Be a Character in The Righteous Series

Here he is, the youngest member of the Compound, drawing the name of one lucky reader who will be arriving in Blister Creek at the end of the world. I'm getting ready to start work on the final book of the Righteous Series (don't worry, the other two are done and on their way!), and offered members of my new release mailing list the chance to become a named character in the series. I was surprised and pleased by the response, with over a hundred people offering themselves up as sacrificial victims.

The winner is Whit McQueen. Sounds like an ex-military guy to me, boots worn from hoofing it across the Southwest as civilization coughs up blood. Hungry, desperate. I haven't quite figured out how he'll end up in Blister Creek, or what he'll do when he gets there.

This was kind of fun. I think I'll do it again in the future.

The Golden Griffin Release (The Dark Citadel #3)

I'm excited to announce the release of the third book in the Dark Citadel series. I think readers of the series will really enjoy it. Book four should be out next year.


Also, my faithful Nook readers, here it is on B&N.

 
If you aren't yet caught up, the first book is currently free to introduce new readers to the series.


Free on Nook, too!

The Golden Griffin

I'm wrapping up the final chapter on The Golden Griffin this weekend. My cover artist should be producing something in the next few days. To my loyal readers of The Dark Citadel series, thank you for being patient. It's coming, I promise.

As to why this book has taken so long, the answer is complicated. I had written pretty much an entire draft, but it took a dark and unsatisfying turn and I didn't know how to work my way out of it. Then, as I took a break to work on other stuff, including the books that people were paying me to write (The Righteous series), and other stuff with more commercial potential and/or were bugging me to come out.

By the time I came back to the Dark Citadel series this spring, what I'd written had gone cold. I had to reimagine some things. Ultimately, I decided that some of what I'd written could be saved, some junked, and some moved on to the next volume. Meanwhile, I brought the focus of the book in a little tighter. I think my readers will like it, and I feel like I'm on a much stronger path going forward.

I'm also hoping with the third volume that sales of the series will pick up a little. There's no question that better sales will make it easier to write the next chapter of the saga sooner. Otherwise, I have to spend more time working on stories that help pay the bills.

9 Killer Thrillers

I had the good fortune to be invited to include a book in a bundle of novels by some of the bestselling thriller authors in the business. I'm delighted to have my novel The Devil's Deep included in the collection. It joins fantastic company.

Amazingly, 9 Killer Thrillers has been released at an initial price of 99¢, which is almost theft, considering there are nine books in the collection.

Another writer pointed out some amazing stuff about the collection:

• Praise from the likes of Janet Evanovich, Stan Pottinger and Lisa Gardner
• Thousands of reviews and average ratings of 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 stars, even one at a whopping 4.7
• Hundreds of thousands of copies of each already in distribution
• Bestseller rankings as high as #1
• Sustained Top 100 author rankings

Here are the books in the 9 Killer Thrillers collection:

Russell Blake – King of Swords
Michael Wallace – The Devil’s Deep
CJ Lyons – Snakeskin
MJ Rose – The Halo Effect
Melissa Foster – Traces of Kara
John L. Betcher – The 19th Element
Claude Bouchard – Vigilante
Luke Romyn – Corpus Christi
Nick Russell – Big Lake

This is a great chance to scoop up some bestselling novels on the cheap. These are the links for the various bookstores. Again, the whole collection is only 99¢!

For the Kindle.
For the Nook.
Apple.
Kobo.

An Interview with David Gaughran

I recently completed an interview on David Gaughran's popular indie blog that you might find interesting. In it I confess that I am not (ehem!) the world's best blogger.
You can read part one here.
And part two here.

The Wolves of Paris Release

The Wolves of Paris is finally live. It's one of my favorite books and I hope you'll check it out.

It's the winter of 1450 and Paris is in a panic. A pack of ravenous wolves is loose in the city, feasting on human flesh. Lorenzo Boccaccio is summoned by a Dominican inquisitor who claims that Lorenzo's business agent is tied to the sorcery behind the wolf attacks. He demands that Lorenzo and his brother Marco help him root out the evil.

Rivals in business and love, the brothers make for a reluctant partnership. Even so, they are confident the wolves are a natural phenomenon, not men or demons traveling in wolf form.

But events soon prove that the monks and peasants are right. These are no ordinary wolves. And if they are not defeated, the city's filthy alleys will be awash in blood.

On the Lam

I got back late last night from a wonderful weekend in Seattle as the guest of my publisher, Thomas & Mercer. There were more than sixty writers there and T&M really spared no expense in making us feel welcome. The highlight of the weekend for me was dinner in an atrium attached to the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum with the Space Needle right overhead. The combination of the great food, the gorgeous setting, and the wonderful company of writers and editors made for one of the most memorable meals of my life. Other highlights of the weekend include a harbor cruise and a wonderful Argentine steak house, where our little group ate in a wine cellar.

But really, the best thing about the weekend was the opportunity to meet so many of my fellow mystery and thriller writers, as well as the people who actually work on the Righteous Series at T&M. I met David Downing, my developmental editor, and Megan Jacobson, who was the first one to offer me a contract after having read my book. That was pretty special to me. In addition, I really liked several of the other T&M employees who I had the chance to get to know in real life for the first time, including Jacque, Danielle, and Terry. Really, everyone I met with the company was great.

So now I'm back to working on Righteous #7. I have a deadline in the near-ish future, and right now all I have is a (solid, thankfully) first draft. Time to buckle down and get to work.