Dead Romeos Is Uploaded!

After spending a few hours making the last corrections suggested by my proofreaders, at 3:43 yesterday afternoon I hit Publish on Dead Romeos, my seventh John Lee Quarrels mystery and my 38th book. It came in at 85,225 words, making it my third longest book, with only Big Lake Lynching at 100,113 words and Black Friday (87,332 words) longer. Amazon says it can take up to 72 hours before a book is live, although usually I have found it to be only a matter of hours. So hopefully by the time you read this, it will be available.

There is always a sense of accomplishment and excitement when an author releases a new book, but also trepidation. Will my readers like it? Will it measure up to my previous books? Have I gone too far? Or not far enough? The John Lee Quarrels series is somewhat grittier than my Big Lake mystery series. There is more violence and the language is rougher in some places, but with every new book the series picks up speed and attracts more readers.

I would love to jump right into my next Big Lake book, but I have some other things I need to get out of the way first. On October 11th my daughter Tiffany is flying in from Arizona for a week-long visit, and that same day my son Travis and his wife Geli will also arrive from their home in Alabama for a few days. It will be the first time in over 20 years that both of my kids and me will all be together in the same place at the same time. I cannot tell you how happy that makes this old man feel.

We have some things we want to get done around the house before they arrive, and I want to get some blogs written and ready to go so that while they are here, I can focus on family time. So I may repost some older travel blogs mixed in with whatever else I can come up with between the 11th and the 18th. Somebody said a while back that he does not like it when I repost a blog from the past, but we saw so many cool places during our years as fulltime RVers that I hope newer readers will get to enjoy them, too. And if you have read it before, just think of it as a rerun on television.

Today is your last chance to enter our Free Drawing for an autographed copy of Big Lake Lynching, the second book in my Big Lake mystery series. This is one of the few books I have left over with the original cover, before I commissioned Elizabeth Mackey to redo the covers for the entire series. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) 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 this evening.

Thought For The Day – When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no. Not all of that screaming “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?” stuff.