It’s hard for me to fathom we’re already talking about the end of Summer. Not officially as it appears on the calendar (think that’s Sept 22nd), but unofficially. People talk about summer ending when the kids start going back to school. In my day, we didn’t head back to school until the day after Labor Day. And our summer began the first week of June. We got 3 full months to play. I feel sorry for kids today. For many, their summer begins a couple of weeks into June and ends in mid-August (most are already back to school this week).
But since we are nearing the unofficial end of the summer, I thought I’d share some book updates. Haven’t done it in a while and some great things are happening.
Christmas in August
My 4th Christmas novel, Keeping Christmas, has already begun to release in stores and
will be available everywhere in about a week or so. I’ve already received my copies. It’s a beautiful little hardback but will also be available as an e-book (Kindle, Nook, etc.). We love how the cover turned out. My wife, Cindi, picked out the title.
As I write this from the Daytona Beach area, Christmas is the farthest thing from our minds. Our summer really extends to the end of September. People still go to the beach and swim in their pools. Personally, I don’t even begin to think about Christmas till we get close to Thanksgiving.
But I’m told in many northern parts of this country it actually begins to get chilly in September. People start to wear jackets and even light their fireplaces in the evening. That’s why they start making Christmas books available so soon. If you’d like to get a copy…
Click Here to check the book out on Amazon.
Click Here to check it out at Barnes & Noble.
Click Here to see it at Christianbook.com (seems to be the cheapest here)
Finished My Latest Novel: Rescuing Finley
For the last 6 months, I’ve been working on a new novel called, Rescuing Finley. I just 
finished it 2 weeks ago. It will be the first in a trilogy of books which all feature a shelter dog as a main character. Of course, there will be plenty of people in the novels (some love stories and lots of relational drama, too). My wife is a certified dog trainer and an expert in dog behavior (seriously, she could have her own TV show). She will be helping me get all the dog parts right.
What’s the story about? Finley is a shelter dog who winds up rescuing the female inmate who trains him (a former meth addict) and the Afghan war vet who adopts him (wrestling with PTSD and learning how to walk again). And they might just fall in love.
As you can see, these books will be more on-brand with my Sparks-type novels, but will also include a great deal of suspense. I don’t have a cover for the book yet, but I hope to use the dog in this pic as the “model” for Finley when I do. When will it be released? I’m not sure yet, but I hope it will be in 2015. I’m exploring whether to release it as an indie book or sign with Amazon to publish it (why the release date is still unclear).
What Am I Working on Now?
I’m just beginning this week to start my next novel (hard to believe it will be Book #17). I’m in the story-building stage, doing a bunch of research and hammering out the synopsis. For you non-writer types, a synopsis is basically the story, front-to-back without any frills. Imagine we’re sitting in the living room and you ask me the question: “Wh
at’s your new book going to be about?” And I told you over the next 10 minutes. If I put that in writing, that’s a synopsis.
When I finish the synopsis, I’m ready to start writing the book. It usually runs 5-6 pages. From that, over the next 4-5 months a 320-page book will emerge (give or take).
This time, I’ll be writing my second indie suspense novel, a sequel to When Night Comes which released back in November. It’s done so well, I’m finally able to get my wish. Which is, to write both kinds of books from now on (suspense thrillers and my Sparks-type books).
The working title right now is, Remembering Dresden. Our young history professor, Jack Turner, will be the main character again, working to solve a new history-mystery with the help of Sgt. Joe Boyd and his new partner. Of course, Rachel, the love of his life, will do her part. The setting will, once again, be the sleepy little college town of Culpepper, Georgia.
I’m having great fun putting this multi-layered story together. I can’t wait to write it.