New novel

My wife hates that I never talk about my work while I'm working on it. Call it superstition but I've had enough ideas flame out during the writing. Since I started out as a screenwriter also, there is nothing more annoying to me than someone talking about the script they are "writing" I put that in quotes because 90% of all scripts that are being "written" are actually not. They are being thought about and being used to get into some girl's pants at a party. I actually wrote 17 screenplays. Many total crap. A few I actually got paid for. None of the movies ever got made but that's a minor detail.
But I digress. I'm working on a new novel. There. I said it. I hit the 19,000 word mark tonight so I think it's real. It has kept me from working on shorts which I know I need to get back to. Keep the name out there, you know.
I have a full outline of another that I want to get to and Jennifer and I are working on the outline for a sequel to One Too Many Blows To The Head but I vow to finish this thing before I let myself get too distracted. It should be able to wrap up by mid Sept at the rate I'm going and then it's back to the start with the old red pen to take out the crap bits and make it better in the only-slightly-crappy bits. At that point I will put up some selections and see if anyone thinks it is anything worthwhile.
So there you go. New novel is working. The old novel, The Room Next To Room 5, needs a re write. I hate rewrites. I bet I get through these other two books before I go back to that one. A lot I love in it. A lot that makes me cringe. Mostly the open. Why does it take so long to get going? What was I thinking? Take 10,000 words out. That would be a start. But for now, this new one is keeping me entertained so I know there must be something to it.
So I'm talking about my work. Now if I can just get someone to listen...

Back to the crime

Just finished a palette cleansing book. A sweet romance set in a sleep midwestern town. Now it's back to the crime! Where to start? Dig into my HUGE pile of TBR Hard Case or that Gischler that I haven't gotten to yet? Fighting the urge to go buy something new. I want to pick up A Bad Day For Sorry but can't justify the hardcover price with this much in my TBR pile. Also want to check out many books by new writer friends. Damn my hour long lunch break? Why can't I take 3 hours and just work harder the rest of the time?

Save the Date

We have a tentative release date of October 1st. Things could change but if all goes according to plan our little book will be released into the big wide world on that blustery autumn day. Soon we will have a pre-release order page so people can get copies hot off the press on the first day. There is a good chance that it will be only my Dad and maybe Jennifer's Dad too but maybe we can get a few pre orders and make us look good. You never know. I'll post a link once it is up.
I forgot to ask what the date is for the Murder on the Wind anthology I am a part of but it will be around the same time.
I wish we were bringing our daughter home from China that soon but a book will have to suffice until that happens.
In September I am planning to make this more of a real blog. I have two followers as of now (Hi Paul) and I know there is little to no reason to visit here very often but I'll try to change that and put various rantings and musings and stuff sure to get me in trouble.
Also coming in September will be a fiction contest. We will have autographed copies of One Too Many Blows To The Head to win along with perhaps a bigger prize for the top winner. More on that later.
So rest up and enjoy the summer for the remainder of August because September begins the big push to release day. We need everyone's help to spread the word.

1st blog-style musing:
Just got my copy of the latest Hard Case Crime book from the book club in the mail today. In a long line of excellent covers, this may be the best if only for the orientation. Bravo again HCC!

We have a cover!

I have been asked for a lot of favors over the years. I'm happy to do most of them, at least the ones for people I like. I still hate asking for favors of my own. It was with great hesitation that I asked one of my longest standing friends, artist Marc Sasso, to do a cover for our book....for free. This guy makes his living as an artist and gets paid bucks for it so it was really presumptuous of me to even ask for a favor like this hoping only that almost two decades of friendship would be enough. Then I had the audacity to art direct him. I sent him some reference photos, described exactly the image I wanted and took most of creative process away from him (I was trying to make it easy on him) I was even asking him to work in a style that is not really his wheelhouse. He usually does stuff with swords, demons and lots of muscles. He's done album covers for Dio and Rob Halford for Christ sake!
Well he did it, and did he ever. We love our new cover. Marc remains a dear friend, one who I now owe a huge favor.
Hell I loved the image so much I used it on the front AND back. I hope I didn't dork up the image with all the type that I laid over it.


FRONT COVER


BACK COVER

In Other news...

Patti Abbott, wonderful writer and prolific blogger, did a little write up about my film Taking Your Life on her blog. She was very nice in her praise of the movie and hopefully some people will click through and buy a copy. Not that I made it for profit but a few bucks could help fund the next one.
Even though it has been a few years it is nice to still be proud to show the film and have people react to it positively.
In book news we got the first draft of our cover art and it ROCKS! I'll post the revised art here soon. It's getting closer to being real....

Three swell dames

A great thing about living in Los Angeles is the proximity to great cinema. I had the pleasure of making my daughter's first movie in a theater a 35mm print of The Wizard of Oz. That was amazing. In a city like this we also get a visit by any and all major authors coming by on their book tours. Today I got to see and meet Megan Abbott, Theresa Schwegel and Laura Caldwell and hear them discuss their work. It's so great to be able to just pop over while Molly is napping and see this kind of thing, pick up a few books, get them signed and be able to thank Megan in person for her generous blurb of One Too Many Blows To The Head (more on that as we get closer to release)
With the closing of Kate's Mystery Books in Boston (where I used to live) I have a renewed appreciation for The Mystery Bookstore in Westwood and Mysteries to Die For out in the valley. Small indie booksellers are struggling, we all know it. Places like this offer the one-on-one that Amazon will never be able to. As much as it pains me to pay full price for a hardcover it is worth it to meet the author.
Wow, this sounds almost like a real blog post and not just my usual self promotion. Probably a sign of a lack of stories lately. I've been busy on a final edit of the book, plotting out the sequel with Jennifer, working on a new solo novel (or two) and having a real life in between. Plus I am trying to hold back and make a big push when we have a date for the book to make the little bit of heat coming off the published stories mean more.
Although now that I have mentioned it maybe a full-on post about my hatred of the hardcover is warranted. At least it might generate some hate mail...

Meeting Seth

Had the great pleasure of meeting Seth Harwood, author of Jack Wakes Up and the man behind the fantastic Crimewav.com. Seth is a tireless promotor of his work and is setting a new template for how to get a book out there DIY style. Inspired by him I am looking into maybe doing a regular podcast of my unsold novel. A good idea? Too soon to tell. Mostly it's just going to be the logistics of it. I am not a web savvy guy so it may prove harder than I know. I've been stumped by two wireless routers in a row here at home so my batting average is not good. Seth offered help and support though which is all I have gotten from so many in the crime fiction community. Tops among them is the Mystery Dawg himself Aldo Calcagno who was also there at Seth's event at the Mystery Bookstore. Meeting Aldo was great to put a face to the guy I've been e-mailing with for so long. If I can actually sell a few books in my life it will be thanks to guys like this.

A little blurry but you get the idea. Me with Seth and Aldo. Thanks to Linda from the Mystery Bookstore for snapping a quick shot on her iPhone.

New Story, New Site

Thrillers, Killers n' Chillers is a great fiction site out of the U.K. and I am honored to have my story Bleeding Out up there. On the same day Christopher Grant posted the sequel to his new creation Greta. It's great to see Chris' own writing after he has supported so many of us on A Twist of Noir.

My first sequel

It was suggested that my story Get Gone may be a good candidate for a sequel. I gave it a shot. I have to say it was fun. You can read it here. It does make me think about how much I am slacking in coming up with the outline for the sequel to One Too Many Blows To The Head but I have a lot of irons in the fire right now. Even just starting it is a great reminder of how fun those characters were to write and it is a pleasure to renew my collaboration with JB Kohl.

Our world class illustrator is working on the cover art. I have already made arrangements to do a signing at The Mystery Bookstore in LA and working on others including Phoenix and Chicago. It's moving slowly but becomes more of a reality every day. I will also be featured in an anthology called Murder is on the Wind. I quite like the story I wrote for that one. Very dark.

In July I am really looking forward to Seth Harwood's signing of Jack Wakes Up and Megan Abbott's signing of Bury Me Deep. I'm going to try to make it to Jason Starr's signing too.

Big Weekend

Well when it rains it pours I guess. I have a new story up at Darkest Before the Dawn which is a really great site for slightly longer stories and some that are a little more off the beaten path, which my story is. Two Left is a western. I still had a little Deadwood residue in my system I guess so I tried to get into that mindset with a little story of gold fever.

Also, and I'm really excited about this, I have recorded my first podcast. My story Past Due has been podcast as episode 39 on the amazing crimewav.com I love this site. It is so great to hear stories read out loud. I wish I could have had someone with a better voice or more dramatic flair read mine but I did okay. If you haven't been to this site take some time and browse around to listen to some of the stories. A really great experience. 

AND...my contribution to Six Sentences is up as well. This site is great and shows a huge range of storytelling all in only six sentences. It is amazing to see what people can do with so little. I realized my story had a typo in it and it made me feel like an idiot. I can't even proof a six sentence story. Sheesh! And it is no comment on our educational system. I had all the breaks, just lazy or ignorant or both. 

I hope I can keep up the pace for a year full of quality output (sans typos). News about the novel I co-wrote with JB Kohl is coming soon.