Thank you, thank you. Your votes are in for the cover art for North of the Killing Hand, the second book in the Compass Crimes Series! This book will be released on October 16. Here it is:
The runner up was also beautiful, but would have required much more tweaking to get it aligned with the story of Nefi Jenkins. Somehow the short shorts and leather messenger bag didn’t suit the story. When you read it, you will understand. This story is a prequel to South of Justice.
To readers who are on Goodreads.com, there will be a giveaway of 50 signed paperback ARCs of North of the Killing Hand coming up soon. ARC means Advance Reader Copy. More info on that later.
If you are interested in reading deleted scenes from either book, leave a comment. Like other authors, I often have to write background scenes and extra scenes that help me discover more about my characters. These scenes, like deleted scenes in a movie, are not essential to the story.
I could front load the book with history like James A. Michener did in Hawaii, going back to the geologic formation of the islands, but modern readers have too many other things demanding their time. Like hundreds of channels of television to watch. Hobbies. Children. Spouses. You know, life. Michener wrote Hawaii before cable television and the internet, back when people had evenings to spend reading.
Modern readers fight for reading time because it is a luxury. I respect that. I treasure feedback and reviews from readers because writing is a fairly solitary venture. The research and critique-swapping stages involve other people. The majority of work on a book is done alone at a computer facing the blinking cursor.
Book signings, book club appearances, conferences with other writers–these delightful social events keep me going from book to book. Thank you for your votes on the cover art. Watch for the giveaway and the pre-buy links leading up to the October 16th book release.
Oh, and the winners of the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Award will be announced at the Florida Writers Conference in October! All prayers for finalist North of the Killing Hand to win are greatly appreciated. Please also pray for Mistletoe Justice to win in the Inspirational Fiction Category. (That’s my friend Carol J. Post’s book!)