Update #15 – They Have Returned

I have finally retrieved my traveling duo from Paris where they have languished (languishing in Paris, now that is an impossibility) since they left the Bay Area to find a very important document in my new book Toulouse 4 Death. It’s been almost a month since I sent them there, but to them it was a nerve racking, car chasing, treasure finding, and espresso drinking thrill ride of three days. Kevin Bryan was jet lagged the whole time, kept falling asleep on the train to London. Sharon, smart cookie that she is, did a classic fake and the bad guys went the wrong direction. Then our pair took the long way home: Paris to Ashford, England to Gatwick, then to LaGuardia, then to San Jose, California. Even I got lost trying to follow them.

It’s great to get back in the saddle. Two weeks of R&R in the Northwest only wetted my appetite for the coming grind. I was able to sort out, and, aided by a few scotches and martinis (my publisher also accompanied me on the trip and helped a lot), we teased out a strong start to Act Two. At the end of Act One a trusted aid is murdered, mansions are broken into, valuable things are hijacked at gun point, and a beautiful Aryan blond walks into the play. Heads turn – people die. (And No, I am not writing a play!)

This is the third Sharon O’Mara Chronicle, the other two, Land Swap 4 Death and Containers 4 Death, are gaining traction, and ebook sales are up. Every day is an adventure in the marketing world; there are many books on the street on how to market your product, writing the how-to book is the easy part (they’re the ones selling thousands of books), for us in the trenches, the fog of war obscures all, we lived for the weekly report form Amazon. As the parable says, “Traction, my kingdom for Traction!” Below is a shot of what I hope will be the cover silhouette for the book.

Sharon O'Mara, P.I. and Trouble Maker

I’m back on schedule, I intend to start Act Three (Chapters 10-15) by mid-July to meet my schedule – book out by November 1, 2011.

Speaking of books, Elk River (the novel of growing up during tough times in the summer of 1956 in Michigan) is at my editor, Dennis De Rose (see column left). First edit due by July 1. I hope to have the revised draft completed by the end of July, he will do a reread while I start the book’s production. Covers are being developed (I hope for opinions in the next few weeks from my readers), interior artwork is being formatted (book will contain ten original pieces), and text fonts are under consideration.

Elk River is the book I had to write, been gnawing at me for years, so now it’s something that just has to be finished and out of my head. There might be a follow-up but that’s in the future.

More later . . . .