It occurred to me a few days ago that I hadn’t posted anything here in a while, but not until I logged in today did I realize that I haven’t posted anything this year. Sorry for the long absence. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, it’s more that I’ve had too much to do. Last week I actually bought the first whiteboard of my life, which is now standing on my desk with a list of writing/editing projects that are competing for my attention. The other reason for not posting, though, is that there just hasn’t been a lot of relevant news.
There is actual news to share now, though, so I figured I should get on here and share it. Although I didn’t have much published last year, that’s changing this year. In August, for example, two new books will be released.
Flesh of All Sorrows is a novel I worked on for a long time–years, really, which is rare for me. It’s a dark, gripping thriller about two families in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona that’s rapidly transitioning from its farming and ranching roots to a modern, 21st Century suburban community. One family is that of a police officer, newly appointed chief of police, whose father was the chief decades earlier and brought local fame to the family by apprehending and convicting the serial killer known as the Bookbinder. The other is the family of a troubled young man who was raised by a father who was himself raised by the serial killer known as the Bookbinder. The coming clash will affect and alter both families forever.
The English-language edition will be released in May by Crystal Lake Publishing. Here’s the spooky cover, painted by the very talented Greg Chapman, who is an author as well as an artist.
The Italian-language edition will be published by La Corte Editore, probably around the same time, as Le Radici del Buio (The Roots of Darkness). I don’t have the final cover yet, but the preliminaries I’ve seen are striking and moody. If there are other foreign editions, I’ll update accordingly.
My other August book is a Western novella written for a special project from Dusty Saddle Publishing called America 250. The project comprises twelve novellas, one each month of this landmark year in American history, each telling a fictional story about a significant actual person from the American West. My book is Cheat the Hangman: A Tale of Billy the Kid. As part of my research, I traveled to the Fort Sumner, New Mexico area where Billy spent the last months of his life, and tried to follow in his bootprints. Here I am at the gravesite of Billy and two of his close friends, Tom O’Folliard and Charlie Bowdre. The headstone lists all three of them; the footstone behind my arm is Billy’s. I haven’t seen a cover yet, but again, will update this blog when I have one.
In the world of comics, I’ll soon be making a BIG announcement. You’ll see it here when I can talk about it.
Music has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember, and last night Marcy and I attended the Land of Hopes and Dreams American Tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was an incredible show, two hours and forty minutes of fantastic music and some timely and necessary commentary by Bruce about the America we’re living in now. Bruce is a true patriot who sees and loves our country while recognizing where it falls short. One of the best of the many, many concerts I’ve seen in my 70 years.
Finally, although I haven’t been posting here much, I have been publishing a sort-of autobiography at Substack. Take a look if you want to know what my life’s been like, because I’m never writing a formal autobiography.
Thanks, as always, for reading!
