Not Another Newsletter!

On the Cusp of a Book Release

At first I thought I'd just include a gif, like so, and caption it "'nuff said"

Then I thought a list of words might better get across what I mean:

• Brink
• Frenzy
• Bafflement
• Desperate
• Yearning
• Desire

See how those last three form a phrase? A sad, maybe pathetic, but oh-so-true trio?

I totally want to be the it's chill kind of author, swaggering over to my computer, but not to check email, oh no, definitely not there to look for the slightest shard of update, any chicken bone scrap of information. Just, you know, how'd the Pirates do in yesterday's game? Is there a team called the Pirates? Did they have a game yesterday? I don't know because I don't care, I JUST NEED NEWS.

What is it like here with my sixth novel, the first in a brand new series, debuting not very long from now after a four year gap in publishing?

It's absolutely bonkers. The inside of my head probably resembles the interior of a volcano. Does this ever get easier? Who are those swagger authors, or for that matter swagger athletes about to set out for their summit attack [side note: I hate that it's called an "attack," so...un-nature], the Olympian just before a dive, prima ballerina as the curtain pulls back, or rock star when the drumsticks start to clatter?

And yes, I realize those are rather high falutin, grandiose comparisons. How else does it feel on the cusp of a book release?

• Grand

Can I play it chill about something that matters so damn much? Should I even try?

Matters to me anyway. I'd like it to matter one day to the world. I can't believe I just said wrote that. (I might've said it too. Like, out loud).

But only to you, the people who've been around over the long haul, and/or love my work enough to engage. Still, I'm afraid you'll think of me differently after reading this fairly spontaneous, from-the-soul scrawl.

Drop me a line if you do, let me elaborate. For now, it's important to me to lay this whole thing bare even at the expense of appearing calm, cool, and collected.

This series character I've created, her stories—well, I think they might speak to a lot of people. The things she has survived, the fights she's been forced to have and exactly how she has fought them—let me just say that many of us have experienced something related, whether of a far more dilute variety, as I have, or in as extreme and soul-killing a form as Arles Shepherd, my heroine.

I feel like readers who pick up this first in the series, The Usual Silence, may find that they love Arles. And admire her. The things she does are just so…kick ass. They right the world.

Anyhoo, after that whole sideswipe, let me be a little more concrete.

Nuts and Bolts, What Is an Upcoming Book Release Really Like?

Here's how I'm filling my time now that my book is less than six weeks away from publication. Five weeks and one day, or thirty-six days, or 864 hours, or 51,840 minutes if you're counting.

And I just did.

• I recently turned book #2 in to my dazzling editor, whose opinion about my work has turned out, after a little more than a year together, to matter as much to me as that of my very first readers.
• Sent my agent some intense jottings, looking ahead, which her inspired team will discuss at their weekly editorial.
• My fab independent publicist has got me blogging and podcasting and being interviewed and teaching workshops and other things fascinating enough to almost—almost—distract me from the impending somersault off a highwire.
• Getting my not-so-little-anymore ducklings ready to head off to college--yes, both of them this year!
• Eating—I'm trying for more veggie forward this summer—and taking long walks and working out on the bike (my, I sound healthy, but hold on) and baking more cookies and muffins than even I can eat.
• Writing to all of you!

Okay, enough about me. I have a giveaway and an author to introduce you to.

Everyone Know What an ARC is?

It stands for advance reader copy and I have one to give away and it is bee-yoo-tiful. I've had ARCs that were more plain John in nature—these look like the book itself and they positively glow. When I opened the box that my publisher sent, it looked like a chest of rubies.

One person out of the first 100 to email me with a q about Arles will be randomly selected to win a copy. U.S. entries only, please. People from outside the U.S. feel free to write me too! I'll send something fun virtually to a second winner.

Author Spotlight

I love meeting authors with interesting publishing journeys, especially ones rich in perseverance. And isn't that all of 'em? Please help me welcome LA Starks...

The vibe of a place frequently gives me both the start for a book and inspiration for key chapters. In Winner's Curse, much of the action takes place in fast, aggressive, shrewd Midland, Texas with important scenes in a city I love even in winter: Chicago. Since energy is a global business—every country uses it, many countries compete to sell it—in this book I also had major scenes in frigid Russia, a UK pub, an Israeli offshore platform, a Spanish import terminal, a Hungarian bath, and an Egyptian office. A little-known fact: explorers have discovered large gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean—offshore Israel and Egypt.

Because it is global, and central to every country's economy, the oil and gas energy business also presents great opportunities for conflict, and conflict is the driver of thrillers, mysteries, and suspense.

As an engineer and energy investor, I focus on getting the numbers right—everyone should want engineers to be OCD about math and physics: getting them right keeps bridges from falling down. Yet as a writer, I find that OCD trait is important, too, but in writing we focus on words, phrases, dialect, description, sounds. (And plot and characters.) As writers, we owe our readers the good story they (and we) want to read. All writers are complimented when a readers tell us—as one did recently to me—“I couldn't put it down. I stayed up until 3 AM reading your book.” Were sweeter words ever spoken?

And Finally a Totally Unfair Teaser

A week or so from now, I'm going to send on some news. Actually, you may catch wind of it before I get the chance to relay. But I'll write you all again in a virtual party kind of way, talk about what life is like after this happens.

Thank you for sharing this dispatch with me.

Thank you for sharing this time.