We had a lot of e-mails and Facebook posts yesterday from people asking if we were okay. Yes, we’re fine, and we appreciate your concern. The bad weather that hammered much of the southeast Tuesday missed us here in central Florida. We got some rain, but that was about it.
We have some of the nicest friends in the world, and two of them are Tom and Diane Owens. We first met them years ago when we were teaching at Life on Wheels and we struck up an immediate friendship that has lasted for all these years. And though we don’t get to cross paths with them as often as we would like, anytime we’re in the same area we try to get together for a visit.
Yesterday we got a very nice gift from Tom and Diane to celebrate reaching the milestone of publishing the 100th issue of the Gypsy Journal. A giant 16 x 20 poster covered with 100 one dollar bills.
And when we peeled them away, this is what we found! Thanks Tom and Diane! We love you guys.
Speaking of good friends, today we are having lunch with another fun couple that we have known for years, Stu and Donna McNicol. We have not seen them in a long time and we’re really looking forward to it.
Donna is also an author, and if you’re looking for a great small town romance with a hint of adventure, check out her first book, Home Again. It’s free today on Amazon.
Another author friend of mine, Ben Rehder, is the author of the excellent Blanco County mystery series. (Check out the first book in the series, Buck Fever, free on Amazon.) And as much as I like those books, I think Ben’s best work is a coming-of-age story called The Driving Lesson. I’d go so far as to say that is one of the most touching books I’ve read on long time. Right now Ben has it on sale on Amazon for just 99 cents. Check it out, it’s a great read.
I sent out the link to the new issue of the Gypsy Journal on Tuesday, and then I wrote 4,000 words in my new Big Lake mystery novel. Yesterday I sent out renewal notices to our subscribers and then cranked out another 2,500 words. I’m about two thirds of the way done now, and last night I contacted my cover artist, Elizabeth Mackey, and she’s going to be working up some ideas for the cover for me. If all goes according to plan, it should be out sometime in mid-March at the latest.
It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to kick off a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Chase The Rabbit, the first book in the Gretch Bayonne action adventure series by my friend Steven Thomas. The book is narrated by actor JoBe Cerny, who is perhaps best known as the voice of the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the Raid television commercials. But what really sets this audiobook apart from others is that it is done almost like an old time radio show. Cerny does voices for all of the male characters, and Julia Farmer does the female parts. It really is a good production. 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 pretty sure that the guy who put the first “r” in February also decided how to spell Wednesday.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!