SO MUCH FOR TRUE LOVE–PART II: THIS IS THE KNIFE I’M GOING TO KILL YOU WITH
Last summer I blogged about a really bad situation that my mentally disabled grandson, Nicholas, got into. Even as I wrote the piece, I didn’t realize how much danger he had been in, nor did I realize the extent of the trauma visited upon him. Essentially, he was held captive by a group of people,…
Read MoreEYEWALL, THE MOVIE… WELL, NOT QUITE YET
As I’ve mentioned before, a lot of readers have told me they thought Eyewall would make a great movie. Yes, it’s a dramatic story. But the novel may also exude “film appeal” because I tend to think cinematically as I write. I don’t do that with any ulterior motive, like hoping the book will get…
Read MoreA QUICK AND DEADLY START
The tornado season is off to a quick and deadly start this year. Devastating storms hammered parts of mid-America over the past couple of days. And although there’s a bit of a lull today, already another significant threat looms for tomorrow. The Storm Prediction Center warns that numerous fast-moving supercell storms as well as a…
Read MoreWHAT DOES AN AUTHOR DO BETWEEN BOOKS?
So what does an author do between books? Well, to be blunt, there is no such thing as “between” books. “Among” books maybe, or “all done” with books perhaps, but no “between.” At the moment, I’m still dealing with Eyewall; plotting strategy for the release of ______ (yes, sad to report, there’s still no official…
Read MoreDON’T FORGET TO TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK
Is the fact that Eyewall has moved into the second round of judging for the Best First Novel competition in the International Thrillers Writers organization a big deal? I don’t know. Remember, I’ve been a published novelist for less than a year. I’m a rookie in the business. This is all new to me. So…
Read MoreIS BOOK PUBLISHING BROKEN?
Book Publishing is Broken. That was the title of a weekly “marketing tip” I received recently via email. The essence of the tip, it turned out, wasn’t so much that publishing is broken as that its current business model is broken and a new one is in the throes of being born. For example, with…
Read MoreSTAND BACK, MY HEAD MAY EXPLODE
Before I became a published novelist, authors who had broken trail ahead of me warned that I, as a writer of fiction, would probably always have three books in my head: the one most recently published, the one currently being written, and the one after that. I didn’t quite believe that, or at least thought…
Read MoreEYEWALL, MARSHALL SEESE AND THE REST OF THE STORY
I’m more than pleased that Marshall Seese, the very popular and now-retired coanchor of “Your Weather Today” on The Weather Channel, will be the narrator for the audio version of Eyewall. Marshall is known for his smooth, on-air delivery and has been a voice-over talent for a number of TV productions. He was also the…
Read MoreON THE ROAD
A little over a week ago I took a brief trip to do a couple of book signings for Eyewall. Now unless you’ve written a blockbuster novel or have an instantly recognizable name, you aren’t going to have people flocking to your book signings. I don’t have people flocking to my book signings. I do…
Read MorePacific Glory
I suppose this is an appropriate date–Pearl Harbor Day–to tell you about a novel, Pacific Glory, I read recently that really struck a chord with me. Typically, I’m a thriller-mystery-suspense kind of guy, but I guess I was ready for a change of pace. So I picked up a book that promoted itself as “a…
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