Blog Tour Anyone?

I begin a 12 stop blog tour this week on December 1st, and it is being coordinated by Tribute Book Reviews. If anyone would like to drop by, talk about writing or just chat, the schedule is at bloodonthepen.blogspot.com.

Disposable People 99 Cents

No, we're not selling people. The price of the ebook version of my book, Disposable People, is going to be 99 cents beginning August 23, 2011 at Amazon.com. I hope this will make it available to anyone who likes to read and has access to an ereader, smart phone, or computer. Read on!

Blood on the Cards

It looks like my publisher and I will start rewrites for the second book in the series, Blood on the Cards, soon. I've said that rewrites are like giving the book a root canal, but they are a very important and valuable part of the process. I'm looking forward to it; although, I'll have to refresh my memory a little on what I wrote, as I have finished the manuscript for Blood on the Badge and am working on a new story set in Boston. If writing weren't so much fun, it would be work.

Short Story Contest

Allromance.com and Omnilit are sponsoring a contest for paranormal romance short stories. Yes, I know, neither is my specialty, and I generally write novels, not short stories, but I decided to stretch a bit and give it a shot. The story is titled A Lover's Promise, and it centers on an elderly woman in a nursing home, who was separated from her lover by the Korean War and by her father's prejudice against people of German ancestry. During the years following World War II, there was a period of time that German-Americans and Japanese-Americans had it pretty tough. So, that plays a part in the story, but it is more about the relationship between Eleanor and Frank. Submissions are due by September before they start selecting semifinalsts, then finalists. As the contest progresses readers get the chance to vote on their favorites. If you choose to follow the contest and you happen to see a story called A Lover's Promise, that would be mine. Of course, all votes would be appreciated, but I have to get through the first cut before worrying about that.

What's Next?

Blood on the Cards is in the edit queue, and I finished writing Blood on the Badge last week, the third, and probably the last, in this series. So, what now? My head has been rattling around with a few ideas, and I think I settled on one. The working title, for now, is To Live Forever. It will be mystery, but this one will incorporate a touch of science fiction, not enough to be called a sci-fi book. In fact, I'm not sure the things it will explore are that far out of the realm of possiblity, perhaps even probability. It should take me the rest of the calendar year to complete the first draft, but I'm pretty excited about the prospects of how the story can develop over that time. Here's a hint. One of the wealthiest men in the world is killed in Boston. The detective assigned to the case is in her early thirties, and the dead man's ten-year-old adopted son describes her as the blackest woman he has ever seen. Okay, enough for now. We'll see how that beginning turns into a novel - or not.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Disposable People made it to the quarterfinals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest (from 5,000 entries in general fiction to 250). The next step is to 50 finalists, and that will be announced on April 26. However, Amazon is opening up their site, amazon.com/abna, for people to download free excerpts and post their own reviews of those excerpts. That starts on April 22, so there isn't much time between. Those reviews become part of the judging criteria. It's great to get this far; the next cut is really tough, but I'm hoping for the best.

Reviews and Videos

Some good things have happened lately. Disposable People won two more five-stars reviews, both posted on amazon.com and one also on librarything.com. I also shot a video for youtube.com, titled Blood on the Pen, that gives an overview of my books. I hope people like it. I'm thinking about another video for youtube aimed at debut authors with a few tips on how to jump through some of the hoops in the publishing process. If anyone thinks that is a good idea or bad idea, I'd love to hear from you. The url for the current video is youtube.com/watch?v=zuGUZglpKFo if you'd like to see it. It's about 6 1/2 minutes long.

Tao for Authors

I am attending a training course in holistic marketing for authors. Yes, I know. That concept does not come naturally to guys like me and, to be honest, the first few minutes was a struggle. Once I overcame my personal bias, the concepts are actually interesting. The leader had the group "breathe out" the past week, the past month, etc. to the past five years. Now, that was strange for me, but I found there is a value in clearing your mind to better concentrate on the task at hand. That could apply in the writing process. I've heard authors talk about what they do, when they write. Some listen to music, others take a drink. It seems to be the same kind of approach - clear the mind; although, I'm not sure drinking clears the mind as much as it muddles it. There is also a "big picture" concept, and that has value as well. I'll stop there. I'm not Zen enough to do justice to an explanation, nor will I ever be, but I must say I'm looking forward to the next session.

Contract for Blood on the Cards

I'm happy to say I signed a second contract with Wild Child Publshing today. This one is for Blood on the Cards, the second in the series of books featuring Jack Harden. It was such a pleasure to work with the Wild Child folks on Blood on the Pen and I look forward to working with them again on this book. They are very commited to quality and very helpful with their advice and guidance. So, once the manuscript makes its way through the edit queue, we will start the process of rewrites. I hope to see it released sometime in the summer. And, yes, I have started to work on Blood on the Badge, but let's not get ahead of ourselves on that.

Book Lovers Inc Review

Got a terrific review from Book Lovers Inc. for Blood on the Pen this week. Lea Franczak wrote the review and gave it 4.5 Bookies. They ratings are defined as:
4 Bookies = "Awesome Book", 5 Bookies = "Perfect! I love it." So, it falls somewhre between awesome and, well, I wasn't expecting perfect. Lea's full review is posted on bookloversinc.com. It is beautifully written. Of course, I'm wearing a really big smile after reading it.

I suppose my fingers are too clumsy to type the word "prequel" correctly.

Tufts University List

My mouth is still agape from finding my book, Disposable People, listed as a "Suggested Book" at Tufts University in Boston. I don't have any personal experience with Tufts, but Forbes Magazine and Newsweek list them as one of the best univeristies in the country. Wow. I don't know what member of their faculty read the book, but I am flattered with their listig it. Disposable People is something of a preqeul to Blood on the Pen. Elsie is the main character and she hasn't met Jack yet. So, it is her story. The blurb is right over there on the side of this page. Right there. Do you see it? Yeah, that's the one.

Blood on the Cards

I'm happy to say I finished Blood on the Cards, the second in the series. Wild Child Publishing asked for a partial, and I'm waiting to hear whether they want the full manuscript. Blood on the Pen won a five-star review from Surrounded by Books, so I hope this book will win a contract as well.

Blood on the Pen was released on 8/31/10. It is available at wildchildpublishing.com, Amazon.com, allromance.com, and other sites. I sent the advanced readers copy to several reviewers, but I haven't heard back from them. My publisher is very positive about the future of the book. I hope she is right.

Release Date

Rewrites are complete for Blood on the Pen. It is scheduled to be released on 8/31/10 from Wild Child Publishing (wildchildpublishing.com). It will start as an ebook and go to print later. After the release date, it should be available on Amazon and Fictionwise as well.

Blood on the Pen is pulling out of the rewrite cycle. It should go to the proofers in mid July, and I hope to see a release date shortly thereafter. Wild Child Publishing has done a great job on the edits. It will start as an ebook on their site, wildchildpublishing.com, and then go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Fictionwise. Once a couple of hundred copies sell, they will release it in paperback. I'm close to finishing the sequel, Blood on the Cards, and I'm knocking around ideas for the third book in the series, which I think will be Blood on the Badge.

Up and Running

My book, Blood on the Pen, is now out of the edit queue at Wild Child Publishing. The cover is shown on this blog page. Just look over there. It's about an unpublished author who gets one rejection letter too many and starts killing literary agents. I expect to start rewrites in the next few weeks. Anyone who has gone through the publishing process will appreciate how painfully slow it is. That isn't the publisher's fault. They receive tons of submissions, and I don't envy their job of pouring through all that. I hope to see it released this summer. It will start as an ebook on wildchildpublishing.com. Once we sell 200 copies, they will put it in print. Wild Child has been very helpful. They are recommended by Preditors and Editors, and they are establishing relationships with other sites like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, New Fiction, and others. I've been very happy working with them. If you have a manuscript, they're worth contacting.