The Great Blog Experiment V 2.0

Even in this age of blogging about every shittin' thing that a person does, wants, eats, humps, and bears witness to, it isn't always easy for writers to discuss their personal lives or even their work. There's a reason I'm an author of fiction. I'm boring as fuck. I live vicariously through my stories. This is no great revelation, especially to anyone who's ever met me.

All that preamble is merely to state that unlike a lot of folks, chattering about myself doesn't come naturally. Except as its hidden (sometimes only in a shallow grave) in my books.

I've been blogging off and on over at MySpace for a year or two now--yes, I KNOW you had no idea--but it's just too difficult to reach any kind of an audience there. Maybe because of all the bells and whistles, the music and the video clips and IMs and chats, the extensive photo galleries and the pornie chicks wanting to chat u up, sexy chile. Distractions abound.

I've also come to realize that as a publicity tool, as well as for a chance to feel like part of a community, to hear back from readers and fellow writers, blogging & comments have replaced letter-writing, phone calls, and in some instances even email.

So, I'm on blogger now. Go, boy.

Okay, some news:

In late February Brantam will be bringing out my next novel THE COLDEST MILE, sequel to THE COLD SPOT, which continues the story of getaway driver Chase and his stone cold killer grandfather Jonah. In this one, Chase is left drifting after the death of his wife and plans to score a local lady mob boss to get the cash to go after his grandpa and save a kidnapped child.

Following shortly thereafter is SHADOW SEASON, a standalone suspense novel hitting in May. SS is about a blind ex-cop turned English teacher at an isolated girls' school who has to deal with some serious emotional baggage as well as two redneck killers on the prowl.

I'm extremely proud of both books, but especially SHADOW SEASON. It was difficult as hell writing from the point of view of a blind man. Since my eyes have been crapping out on me for years (see photo of horrifically myopic dude with the uber-thick glasses) blindness is a major fear of mine. This book dredged up a lot of personal terror for me and took me to black (ha ha, but still witty) places and really made me reach for a fresh kind of narrative edge.

Bantam has been publishing my novels one every nine to eleven months, so having only a three month window between two titles is something new. But they want to jockey the novels into a position where they might help build momentum together for the big srping-summer sales push. Both books are available for pre-order at the usual places.

Currently I'm working on a new novel tentatively titled THE UNDERNEATH (my editor makes faces every time she says the title aloud...how do you kids feel about it?) The past few years my work has been pretty evenly split between crime fiction and suspense fiction. In this one, I hope to bridge the gap between the two.

Anyway, that's about it for our first episode of PIC UNDER GLASS. I could tell you about the big pot of pasta fasool I'm making, but hell, I need something to blog about later on in the week.