COLD BLOODED Release!

Released on Kindle edition with preview here: COLD BLOODED

When I finished my first novel back in 1977, I figured an author writes a book, publishers scramble to contract it, and nothing is left to do but attend book signings and rake in the money... yeah right.  :)  Deep down, I suspected it wasn't really that easy because I scraped together a real career to pay real life bills while pursuing another passion of mine - fixing cars and trucks. Writing acts as an ephemeral outlet for the characters and stories flitting constantly through my head. When Double Dragon Publishing's Carnal Desires Line contracted my novel LANCELOT and then Wild Child Publishing contracted COLD BLOODED the heady but small dream of using these initial credits to get an agent seemed within my grasp... yeah right. As my writing friends know, we authors now own the promotion side of publishing. When a publishing house is nice enough to give an author a break, we'd love to reciprocate by making their decision a profitable one. COLD BLOODED combines many aspects I love reading and love writing: characters that haunt me with dialogue years after I've given them voice, humor, violence, and gray areas of right and wrong where good doesn't necessarily triumph without a little help from the dark side.  :)

Cold Blooded Pre-Order Page

COLD BLOODED

It appears since Wild Child Publishing has put up a pre-order page for COLD BLOODED, they may not postpone the release date any longer. My writer friends know this means it is my responsibility to promote what I have spent three years trying to get published. :) Many of my automotive readers have e-mailed me their thanks for answering questions and have recommended putting up a donation gizmo so I could get recompense for my efforts. I hate the word donation so for those of you, and I get thousands of hits on my automotive pages, thank you all for the suggestion but if you want to contribute, and action/adventure fiction appeals to you, take a walk on the wild side of COLD BLOODED.  :)

Nick, my writer/assassin character, decides after ten years of black ops assassinations it's time for a change. Against the wishes of his shadow government bosses he has inexplicably managed to become a bestselling author with a string of novels about an assassin named Diego. The novels have made him world famous and provided a cover for his overseas sanctions. He bought a beautiful place in Pacific Grove, California near the ocean where he treks down to his favorite spot at Otter's Point every morning he's not away on assignment. But Nick feels something's missing.

A sometime employer Nick takes on sanctions from when they coincide with the wishes of his government sponsors, orders the death of a woman in the witness protection program. Nick sees something in the woman's picture reminding him of someone he knew long ago. After a brief journey up to the restaurant in Northern California where his potential target, Rachel Hunter, works as a waitress, Nick makes a decision to alter his lifestyle. Hayden Tanus, the CEO of Tanus Import/Export looks out the window of his plush office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan wondering briefly if Rachel Hunter was finally dead. The fifty caliber bullet made a small hole in his window and a large one as it exited his head. 

In the following days, playing the role of famous author doing research for his new novel, Nick enters Rachel's life. He inadvertently triggers an unforeseen chain of events launching him in a cross country flight with Rachel, her daughter Jean, and Deke the dog. Rachel has secrets. The people still wanting her dead are about to find out a cold blooded killer now stands in their way and body counts mean absolutely nothing to him.

That's my man, Nick, and here is the scene and short story to give potential readers a little preview: Cold Blooded Scene

New Pricing

I knew once all the brick and mortar book stores were on the downswing, that the great pricing on Kindle, Nook, etc. would begin their rise. As I’ve checked pricing for e-books, Kindle editions, and Nook offerings on many of the bestselling authors, I noticed the prices of novels you could have purchased as a softbound book or ‘hardcover on sale’ in the past would be less than the no-book (e-book format) price now. One of Larry McMurtry’s novels had a Kindle price tag of $16.99 and another was listed for $11.99. Granted, there are many bargains out there, but my fears about climbing no-book prices are becoming ever more noticeable.

There are a number of ups and downs I see to this trend. One downtrend will be POD offerings. An on-line publisher offering e-book format novels for what used to be new paperback pricing will naturally have to raise the price on POD paperback and hardbound copies. Soon, this will translate to what happened long ago in video rentals when Blockbuster wiped out the small video outlets. When they were the only game in town the pricing escalated until they killed the goose that laid the golden egg and were wiped out themselves. I realize this new and exciting instant gratification era of e-books is here to stay with all the iPad and other phone tablet gizmos incorporating e-book availability along with first run movies. I wonder if small book stores may eventually make a comeback though, offering an up to date selection of comic books and graphic novels which are tough to enjoy on a Kindle, along with new and used books, including POD’s and audio books of some selections.

Some price escalation I’m sure has to do with the bestselling authors seizing an opportunity to make more than was ever possible on even a large print run hardbound offering. Until market resistance slows sales I don’t see the escalating e-book pricing coming down any time in the near future. One exception to this is the ‘novel series’. I’ve noticed some popular series authors offering their first in series books for next to nothing, thereby gaining sales from new readers jumping on board – and of course full price for the rest of their series run from the readers deciding to purchase later editions. Another exception as always are the unknown new authors and their offerings, many of which can be purchased at very reasonable prices.

It’s an exciting and scary time in the publishing industry and it’s going to stay that way for quite a while.  :)

Here We Go Again

Wild Child Publishing bumped COLD BLOODED to a November 22ond release date. Actually, I'm not disappointed because if this novel would have been released on time as promised, it would mean the cosmic balance had been disrupted. I'm glad I didn't pump up the release date all over the place. I'm safe here. Only a few friends and some folks I have locked in my closet visit the blog. I guess I better start writing up some entertaining posts until the 22ond. I nearly went full psycho watching Herman Cain's high tech lynching. It must be a real thrill to reach out for your fifteen minutes of fame after a couple decades by making up unsubstantiated libel to destroy a man's reputation simply because he doesn't believe in the same things you do. Anyway, I will announce any other boulders in the path of COLD BLOODED's release as they happen.  :)