MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas, a warm holiday season, and a Happy New Year.

It has been an exciting year. I published three books during the first half and have written two drafts of new novels and I am well into the final draft of the third book in the Alex Polonia series. We are hoping to release this new thriller next year. It's tentatively titled St. Petersburg White.

FREE - - - FREE - - - FREE - - - FREE

In celebration of the season and as a gift to you, I am offering you four ebooks of my thrillers and mysteries during December for free.

All will be listed on the FREEBOOKSY website on the specific days listed below, however, you can go directly to the book's Amazon website on the days that straddle the free day and get the book for free.

Toulouse For Death - December 6  (The free period runs from 12/ to 12/9)

Chicago Fix - December 14  (The free period runs from 12/13 to 12/17)

Limerick For Death - December 20  (The free period runs from 12/19 to 12/23)

Chicago Swing - December 17  (The free period runs from 12/26 to 12/30)

Happy Holidays

FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE

Friday September 20 through Sunday September 22, Chicago Swing will be available through Amazon for the phenomenal price of FREE. Chicago Swing is the first book in the ongoing series that takes you back to Chicago 1933. Detective Tony Alfano gets the tough cases, the political cases, the ones the Mayor wants solved - now. One of the few Italians in and Irish police force, Tony pushes through, tough, handsome, a ladies man, and above all honest - he's the one cop that sees through all the BS.

And Chicago Jazz and Chicago Fix are also available for $0.99 each - such a deal.

Get Chicago Swing here.

https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Swing-Tony-Alfano-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00VB2LUFK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428265737&sr=1-1&keywords=Chicago+Swing

FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE

Today through Monday, July 15, LIMERICK FOR DEATH is free to download to your Kindle. I do this only once for each of my new releases. Just click on the image of Sharon and she will take you there. 

If there is one gal you want on your side it's Sharon O'Mara.

Enjoy!!!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RST5P9Y

A Limerick for You, To Be Delivered July 2, 2019

Limerick For Death is Live!

It is finally here, the day when all good things come to those who wait. Yes, my dear readers, Limerick For Death is available. Sure you can pre-order until July 1 (I'd do it if I were you), and it will be waiting in your device early July 2, or you can order the paperback and it might even arrive the same day (or maybe the next) - either way, you are in for a treat.

Sharon and her international posse - you've met them before: Kevin Bryan the once detective and now security specialist; Gina Cavellli, owner of the best bar in the East Bay, Geno's; Evelyn Luca, owner of the international fashion brand, STIA, and Jean Francois Verey and Claudette Leclair -  travel to Ireland to celebrate Sharon's fortieth birthday (so traumatic) and the inheritance of Kevin, a seventeenth century baronial estate (and a tax debt of millions). What could go wrong?

There's a smuggler's cave, a nasty New York developer, a spiked hair redhead solicitor from Dublin, the rich green hills of Ireland, and of course, Spanish gold. You will love it.

This is the sixth book in the series. Sharon, an ex-Army police officer, put her time in Iraq and now has her own facilitator business. She is hired to do the things you can't. Nothing illegal but her skills have led to the recovery of a star Cuban baseball player's family from the evil clutches of a rogue Cuban army officer. She's helped return art stolen by the Nazis to the rightful owners in present day Los Angeles, and discovered who killed the great sailboat racer, Katherine Verey (they were very very bad people).

It is a joy to write these stories, they become a personal vacation from my the other thrillers and adventure stories. I hope you take a few minutes and add them to your summer reading. They are worth the small price for all the enjoyment.

All the best . . . . .

TEN YEARS AT THE SNAP OF TWO FINGERS

I posted this on Facebook last week. 

It's hard to believe that since 2009 I've published (in one form or another) 12 novels, developed more than a dozen recurring characters, and wandered through the 1930s, the 1950s, and present day. 

My characters have taken on the bad guys in Asia, Europe, America, and a during a long hot summer in 1956 Michigan. I've even won a couple of awards and a few nicely framed honors. 

Currently, in my queue, are three World War II thrillers (with new characters), and a hopeful third book in the Alex Polonia series. Most are self published (and thank you Thomas & Mercer), and right now almost all are priced at $0.99. 

Unlike a lot of authors, I'm not in this for the money (however, a few bucks would be nice), the acclaim (don't do award competitions - a waste of time and money), don't do book signings (the ROI sucks), and I almost give away my work. 

I love to tell stories, maybe squeeze out a tear or two, and maybe even a snicker. Take some time, read my stories, and maybe leave me a note, whether you enjoyed them or not. I will keep them coming.

------

And all that is true.

Writers writer, even Neil Gaiman says that it's the number one reason to write. (I like Neil's work, but sometimes even he states the obvious). What drives someone to spend months and even years writing a novel? It's a reclusive and uninclusive occupation, for little or no money (for most writers), causes issues within the family, and yet when done properly leads to immortality--think Shakespeare, Dickens, Bradbury, Hemingway, Dr. Seuss, S. King and even Gaiman. Maybe that's the reason, to have your words live on beyond you. You can't take anything when you go, but you can leave a lot for people to argue about. "That damn Voltaire. If he were here right now, I'd give him a piece of my mind."

One word placed after the previous one, so on and so on, until you run out of words, or story, or paper. Beginning, middle, and end - it's that simple.

Someone asked me the usual question, "How long does it take you to write a book?" We writers patiently try to give cute, pithy answers, "As long as it takes." "Till I'm done." I like to say that it is a question of experience. My first book took almost twenty years to publish (not write - I still don't think that book is completely done), the last one took three months, one in the middle took six weeks. So who the hell knows. The one point I'd emphasize is that if you don't put your butt in the chair, it will never be written, even if you had all of eternity.

There's a lot of hype out today about books and authors, battles rage within the writing community over diversity, propriety, cultural appropriation, sexism, racism, in fact over most any ism out there. Books are still banned by both the right and the left ends of our culture. No one wants their beliefs challenged. I received a review (it's still on my Amazon review list - look it up) over my young adult novel, The Cherry Pickers, that said they liked the story until it challenged their religious beliefs and their neat world view of homosexuality. From that point on, they gave the novel thumbs down. I wonder if they ever finished it? And to be honest, I loved the review. If I can write in a way that achieves my goal of telling a great story and making you uncomfortable in your shell, even for a little while, I've succeeded.

The human species is a source of boundless opportunities and grist for my writer's mill. Keep it up out there, can't wait to see what tidbits you leave for us tomorrow.

All the best . . . . 

BOOK COVER REVEAL: LIMERICK FOR DEATH

You can only imagine how much fun (and relief) it is when you can say: Here it is, the cover reveal to my latest novel.

So, "Here it is!  Limerick For Death."

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RST5P9Y

This is the sixth volume in the Sharon O'Mara Chronicles. Our gal, (or as I like to call her, the other redhead in my life), is involved in another adventure that takes her and her close friends, Kevin Bryan and Gina Cavelli to Ireland. Kevin has inherited a baronial estate that overlooks the the Celtic Sea in Cork County. And with it, a multi-million euro tax bill and a nefarious New York developer bent on pillaging the property for a number of lucrative and personal reasons.

This adventure-thriller is available for pre-order at Amazon (go here). If you order the ebook it will be automatically delivered to your Kindle on July 2, 2019. We are also working out the bugs on the paperback, it should be available that day as well.

Also note that ALL the O'Mara books are $0.99 - such a deal. For less then six bucks you can have more fun and summer reading than that one Jack Reacher book.

I have a a lot of friends out there who love Sharon and her international adventures. I am sure you will be thrilled to join us with this one.

ORDER HERE

Thank You - Thank You

Thank you all of you out there who took a leap of faith and downloaded Venice Black and Saigon Red. We have had over 5,000 downloads since March 5. And what's really a pleasant surprise is that half of these are for Venice Black - which has been out since March 2018.

I'm also thrilled to find that more than half have been purchased from readers in the United Kingdom and Australia. The specials there are on their respective Amazon sites. Who would have thought that me, a confirmed Anglophile, would have a readership in England. Thank you to all of you.

There's a special deal going on for $3.99 for Venice Black - a buck off the regular price. This is through the end of the month. Just click on the cover.

And last, but not least, don't forget Sharon O'Mara and Tony Alfano, two characters in the Greg Randall pantheon of unforgettable characters. Sharon and Tony are close to my heart, and Alex Polonia is right up there with them.

Everything is available by clicking the book covers.

And don't forget to go to my web site: www.gregorycrandall.info. And, if you sign up for my monthly newsletter, you will receive a free PDF copy of Land Swap For Death - Sharon O'Mara Book One.

And coming soon will be Sharon's Limerick For Death.

Stay Tuned . . . . .

SAIGON RED IS NOW AVAILABLE

SAIGON RED IS LIVE

CLICK THE COVER AND IT WILL TAKE YOU 
TO THE AMAZON BOOK PAGE. 

SALES ARE ROCKETING TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS - IN THE TOP 100 IN MILITARY AND INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY AND CRIME - JUST AFTER TWO DAYS.

LET'S PUSH IT TO THE TOP!

Opening Day: Saigon Red

Opening Day

Many years ago, one of my hobbies was fly fishing. And every year one day in the spring was set by the local Fish and Game, as Opening Day. For months I'd work on my gear, rods, flies, and all the other piscatorial paraphernalia in preparation for the moment when I'd climb, before dawn, into the car (pre-loaded of course), and drive to my not-so-secret spot along with a hundred others to flail away at the fish laying low in the creek. It was about the day, the adventure, the thrill of the change from before fish (BF) to after fish (AF).

Looking back it was quite silly, even crazy, however, on Tuesday March 5, 2019 you too can join me in my own opening day:

This day SAIGON RED will be published.

Just sit down at your computer or Kindle, and at the stroke of mid-night do two things: order the book and, if pre-ordered, begin reading the second installment (just loaded into your device) of the Alex Polonia thrillers. Having, of course, read Venice Black, you have been waiting, nay pining, for the release of the next Alex thriller.

Now's the time! Click the cover, it will whisk you miraculously to the Amazon page, where with one additional click, it will be magically sent to your Kindle, iPad, and/or phone.

Alexandra Polonia is a great character, I love her. She just forty, an ex cop, and has her faults and is quite impatient with the men she knows and works for. Not a single super-power, she still manages to get through the day. However,  in Saigon Red she is faced with a whole new set of challenges that most of us will never have to deal with. Not the least of which are the effects of the Vietnam War still being felt by her family fifty years later.

Here are the reviews by some well know writers in the genre:

“Sometimes you can’t avoid the past. Alex Polonia doesn’t try. She runs smack into it. Saigon Red is good fun, with lots of action, innovative gadgets, and an explosive plot.” —Robert Dugoni #1 international bestselling author of My Sister’s Grave and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

“Gregory Randall takes you on a head-spinning journey across the globe where secrets are sacred and family ties are deeper—and more deadly—than you can ever imagine. Buckle up. You’re in for one heck of a ride!” —Matthew Farrell, bestselling author or What Have You Done

“A sizzling read. Gregory C. Randall emerges the reader into the high-stakes world of private corporate security and organized crime. A crackling page-turner that will keep you reading through to the surprising conclusion.” —James L’Etoile, author of At What Cost and Bury The Past

“Very entertaining, with the villains appropriately evil and cunning and the plot lines keeping one guessing. The physical descriptions, especially of Saigon, are on the mark. A fun read. This series has legs.” —Arthur Kerns, author of The Riviera Contract and The African Contract

“It pulses with mood, atmosphere, and adventure. You can smell the street food and the sweat in the back alleys of Saigon.” —Jake Needham, author of ten bestselling Asian crime novels

“Starting off with a bang in the history-laden Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam, Gregory C. Randall’s second novel featuring Alex Polonia, former Cleveland police detective, quickly brings her and us into a world of intrigue, double-crossing, and family secrets. Filled with action and exquisite details. Very much recommended.” —Brendan DuBois, bestselling mystery author, three-time Shamus Award winner, and James Patterson collaborator

BUY IT HERE:

And remember there are five formats available:

Paperback, Kindle, MP3, CDs, and Audible

Stay Tuned . . . . . .

Diamonds For Death is Free

FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE

For the next five days until the 25th, Diamonds For Death is free on Amazon.com. 

Enjoy and maybe download the others in the series while you are at it.

https://www.amazon.com/Diamonds-Death-Sharon-OMara-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00RESIJHC/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

What A Fix

What A Fix

A great opening month for Chicago Fix. Last weekend I offered the newest Detective Tony Alfano thriller for FREE, and did you, my readers, take advantage of the deal. Almost 3,000 of you have a copy of the novel in your devices. I'm seeing thousand of pages a day being read on the library downloads (also free), and cross-over sales of the other Chicago books. Thank you very much. 

I am also pleased that these downloads led to #1 and #2 placements in police procedurals, crime, and even pulp categories.

Next month, March 5, to be exact, Saigon Red is due to hit the streets and Wi-Fi routers across the world. But this morning they arrived, the first copies of Saigon Red.

Below is the YouTube video book trailer - - Enjoy!

More later  . . . . . .

NEWS, NEWS, NEWS

NEWS:

A lot to talk about today.

First off, there's the complaining going on at the Writer's Guild about the reduction in incomes to the guild members. Here are two URL's that describe the problem from their point of view.

https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/authors-guild-survey-shows-drastic-42-percent-decline-in-authors-earnings-in-last-decade/

https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/six-takeaways-from-the-authors-guild-2018-authors-income-survey/

Isn't the real issue the dramatic decline in leisure reading itself? Lord knows there's two million new books every year to choose from, from self-pub to traditional. I get the not so subtle feeling that they wish all of us independent and self-publishing writers would just go away (and take Amazon with them) so they can have the game for themselves. No one has promised any of the these guild members an income. They, like all of us, must earn it - and continue to earn it. Each work is a project to itself, you can ride the horse a long way, but eventually you will need a new horse.

Me? I have enough problems without worrying about whether Neil Gaiman, or James Patterson, or some other NY published author is making it. It's distracting. All of us just have to get down a few thousand words a day and make sure they are the right words. After that, it's all a gravy train, right?

Amazon:
The attacks on Amazon continue (beyond the above). There's a lengthy article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal by Jeffery A, Trachtenberg about Amazon and its success. The intent, at least my take, is a not too subtle dig on the greatest reinvention of publishing since the letterpress. This is the democratization of the written word and the published book. With Amazon, ANYONE can write a book, of any length, and in less then ten minutes make it available for free to the WHOLE F--king WORLD. There're no gate keepers, no upfront costs, no ongoing maintenance costs, nothing. Just post, share the expenses, get paid on a reasonable timeline, and manage it all on an accounting site that is truly amazing - for FREE. Get it . . . Free.

Here's the article, sadly you need to be a subscriber to WSJ. If someone else has washed the URL, let me know:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/they-own-the-system-amazon-rewrites-book-industry-by-turning-into-a-publisher-11547655267

The article implies some kind of rigging, some kind of gaming - Dude, it's their system. I realize it, I'm willing to participate. No coercion. They give me more info about the book than any bookstore I can think of. Come on, get on board, it's 2019, the revolution is here, man!

Self Promotion (it is my blog after all):
My latest Detective Tony Alfano thriller is now FREE (1-19 to 1-21), Chicago Fix is a study of the nastier side of Chicago in 1933, the fight game. This novel with the first two, Swing and Jazz, (at $0.99 each), means that you can have all three for $1.98. That's $0.0000099 a word, such a deal. Click the cover, it will take you to the page. After next Tuesday it will go back to $0.99. Still a great deal!!

Saigon Red (see artwork right)
This second in the Alex Polonia thriller series will be released on March 5. Preorders are being taken. Please sign up, be the first to get on the Alex Polonia bandwagon. Unlike the members of the Writer's Guild (see above), I just love working for free. All I want is your love and recognition - yeah, right. Please buy my book, it's a lot better than wasting your evening on Call To Duty - and less than the cost of a double shot mocha frappuccino (and less fattening).

HERE IS THE VIDEO BOOK TRAILER ON YOUTUBE

All the best, and stay tuned . . . . .