One of the best things about being an RVing author is having the ability to travel like we do. It has allowed us to go places and do on location research for my books and for stories for the Gypsy Journal, to soak up the local atmosphere to try to add to the realism of my books, and to meet both readers and fellow authors.
We spent yesterday afternoon and most of the evening with author Billy Kring and his pretty wife Elizabeth at their beautiful old home in Sabinal, about 20 miles west of the Escapees Lone Star Corral co-op. Billy and Elizabeth are two of the nicest, down to earth people you could ever meet. We had a great time talking about our books, future writing projects, and swapping war stories. The time flew by so fast it felt like only an hour or so had passed.
Besides being the author of the excellent Hunter Kincaid mystery series, as well as the Ronny Baca mystery series, soft spoken Billy is also an actor, as is Elizabeth (check out this trailer for Abram’s Hand). He spent a career as a Border Patrolman and supervisor in West Texas, and worked as a consultant on terrorism and international border issues in Mexico, South America, Eastern Europe, and other trouble spots around the world. Oh, the stories he could tell! But like most men with his background, Billy doesn’t elaborate. When you read his books, and you really should, do so knowing that this fellow writes from experience.
Eventually the setting sun and our growling stomachs told us it was time to adjourn to someplace where they served food. We chose Bill & Rosa’s KK Steakhouse in D’Hanis, which is housed in another neat old building, where we talked some more as we enjoyed a delicious meal. It was worth the two day breakneck trip from Tucson just to have extra time with Billy and Elizabeth.
Today we will be leaving Hondo and making the 160 mile trip to the Colorado River Thousand Trails preserve in Columbus, Texas. Our pals Greg and Jan White are there and we are really looking forward to spending time with them. And I think I may even have a couple of things for Greg to fix, though I can’t remember what they are right this minute. If I can’t figure it out, I’ll break something. Greg needs a purpose in life. If left to his own devices, he’s apt to wander off and get into mischief.
It’s Thursday, and you know what that means. It’s time to kick off a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Crazy Days in Big Lake, the third book in my Big Lake mystery series, which one reviewer described as “Mayberry meets Twin Peaks.” To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – I’m not the kind of person you should put on speaker phone.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Just for the record, I don’t need to wander off to get in trouble. I can get in trouble just fine right here.
If you don’t believe me, ask Jan.
Please be careful our there.. We are sitting at Holiday World in Katy Texas waiting for repairs. We were squished between a concrete barrier and an 18 wheeler when she failed to stay in her lane. Happened yesterday in a construction zone with a lane shift.
Happy you enjoyed your stay at LSC, you all picked a great place to eat, this is our usual breakfast on Thursday get together. Great folks who run it and the food is great also. Once again sorry we missed you. Have a safe trip to Florida and please say hi to Greg and Jan