Second Houston/Bouchard Novel (THE FISHERMAN) Under Contract

On April 22, 2014, I signed a contract with Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. to publish the second novel in my series featuring Mike Houston and Anne Bouchard. The novel, entitled THE FISHERMAN, follows Anne and Mike as they assist an elderly couple in the search for their missing grand daughter. The investigation leads them into Boston's dark world of prostitution and white slavery.

As in SNIPER, they enlist the assistance of crime lord Jimmy O and his organization. The chase takes them from the remnants of Boston's fames Combat Zone to the rocky coast of Maine, and ultimately into the seemingly endless acres of northern Maine woodlands.

I feel fortunate to be able to work with the same great team at Skyhorse Publishing. I am certain that were it not for the invaluable assistance of my editor, Constance Renfro, (she knew when to back off and let me have my way and when to stand her ground and make me see the light) the book would not have been as good as it turned out. That is my feelings based on the feedback I get from readers. It made me the second most famous person in Stockholm, Maine (population 270), Russell Currier made the U. S. Olympic Biathlon Team and for much of the winter held first place. Now that the 2014 Winter Olympics are history, I'm making a bit of a comeback.

It is a nice feeling knowing that the publication of THE FISHERMAN will remove the fear of being a one book wonder, although it didn't hurt Harper Lee. I'll be letting everyone know the particulars as we go through the editorial and prepublication process. Now that I think of it, blogging on that process may be of interest to some people.

SNIPER AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN BOOK STORES

As of tomorrow, February 4, 2014, my novel, SNIPER, will be available at most book retailers and online. It's hard to express how much this means to me, it is my first publication in a book format (I have previously published short fiction and one early novel in eBook format). I started the novel in the late fall of 2002 and got side tracked on several other projects placing it on a back burner (forgive the cliché!). But there were some people without whom this day would not have happened:

First and foremost was my late wife, Connie. She supported me through those early years when I thought I knew how to write. I resisted some of her comments early on, but that's usually the first symptom of "I know what I'm doing-itis". I've always said that the difference between being intelligent and being ignorant, is intelligent people know what they don't know--ignorant people don't have a clue and don't care enough to see the light! I would bring my latest chapter or short story to Connie, wanting praise, instead I got her honest opinion. She would say something along the line of: "There's too much profanity." I of course, being ignorant, only heard the praise. I was like Mark Twain, who once said (don't take this as being an accurate quote, but the gist of the quote is accurate): "When I was 17, I didn't think my father knew anything; when I was 27, I was astounded by how much the old man had learned..." As I progressed as a writer, Connie just got smarter and smarter.

Second on this list of Geniuses, was Paula Munier, my friend and now my agent. Paula and I met in the summer of 2002 at a meeting of the New England Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Later that year, she created the first writer group I had ever been a part of. I took the first chapter of one of the novels I was working on to that first meeting, expecting to hear how wonderful it was. That evening I met Skye Alexander and Susan Oleskiew, both published authors and editors (did I mention that Paula was also a professional editor?) They listened to my wonderful work (by now I assume you know where I'm going with this...) and then politely and I may add, professionally, ripped it apart! I left that first meeting limping from the chewing I'd been subjected to, swearing that I would never return. (They too assumed they would never see nor hear of me again). I got home and bent the ear of my primary support person. Connie smiled and said, "Maybe they're right." I was shocked, how could she say such a thing...my bride of 32 years nailed me with, "You think you take criticism well, but you don't. These women have all been published and are to a greater degree than you, succeeded at doing what you want to do. If you don't want to listen to their opinions or take their advice, don't. I mean, look at how successful you've been doing it your way." I limped down to my office feeling as if the little bit of my ego that the writer group had left me had just been taken by my wife. I dropped what was left of my fanny into the chair and took every bit of feedback they'd given me and rewrote the chapter. When I was done, I read it aloud and half-way through paused to say: "Hey...this is good!" I tell this story to every new or aspiring writer I meet. Yet every once in a while when Paula does an edit (even though she's my agent she is still an editor) and tells me to rewrite something or to cut something, I get my hackles up. Nevertheless, I do it...because that's how I got a book publishing contract.

In 2006 cancer took my beloved Connie and two years later I lost my full-time job to the most recent recession. I still mourn losing Connie, but not the job. I looked at my situation and realized that I could no longer afford to live in southern New Hampshire. I relocated to Maine...far northern Maine. A five minute drive past my house and you reach the end of civilization as we know it! Now I have time to write full time. The only impediment is me...I can put off procrastination! So, I did what I knew I had to do, I sought out and found a new writer group. The members may not have the resumes similar to those of my first group, but they still make me sit down and write and they still tell me what I need to hear; not what I want to hear.

Connie is gone now and I have a new first reader, my domestic partner Jane. She's not as critical as Connie and the others, but thank God she's getting there!

So, in closing...thanks to Connie, Paula, Skye, Susan, the Breathe writer group and Jane. And all of you who buy my book and enjoy it.

THANK YOU....

eBook Publishing

If I can believe all I've read and heard this past year, ebooks are the hottest form of publishing, supposedly 70% of all books published last year (2010) were ebooks. The keynote speaker in the first writer conference I ever attended, Jeremiah Healy, said, "The personal computer has made it very easy for people to write. Unfortunately, it also made it very easy for them to write badly." The same thing can be said for the burgeoning number of ebooks available through any number of outlets.

I have published a number of ebooks via smashwords and Kindle Direct Publishing (for some reason Barnes and Nobles and a number of ebook sites will accept books from Smashwords whereas Amazon does not, preferring that the author use their Kindle Direct Publishing) and receive an RSS feed from Smashwords each time I access my email with Outlook. Scrolling through the uploads can be quite eye-opening. The number of amateurish books makes one believe that ebook publishers have become the vanity press of the 21st century.

I find it quite easy to identify some of the lesser experienced writers by checking the price they put on their work. I doubt any accomplished writer would publish a book for free or for as small a price as $0.99 (Barnes and Noble and several other outlets will not list a book unless they meet a certain pricing standard).
Of late, I have seen more and more books by established authors for the Nook and the Kindle so I can't arbitrarily dismiss the platform...I am seeing more an more readers carrying ereaders of one type or another.

One of the reasons it is so easy to publish an ebook is that no special software is required. In fact, Smashwords and KDP prefer that the manuscript be written using Microsoft Word. There are some things to be aware of when preparing your manuscript for submission and the easiest way to ensure that your work will look its best on an ereader is to download the publisher's style guide. It has been my experience that if your book complies with Smashwords Style Guide (available for download at http://www.smashwords.com) most other publishers will accept it with no reservations.

It can, however, be very frustrating when your Smashwords version keeps generating format errors. EReaders do not like tabs, or a sequence of more than 3 spaces used to separate text (I recently had the wonderful experience of preparing a manuscript which contained poetry where the author had used spaces to align sentences to create a visual. For example in one poem entitled PINE, the author spent a lot of time making the lines appear to form a pine tree. It did not work as an ebook--ebooks ignore things such as page breaks and, on my Nook, the pine tree was presented across two screens.) and font can be an issue. EReaders allow the reader to increase the font size for easier reading and therefore most publishers restrict font size to 12 pitch for normal print and no more than 16 for titles etc. Most publishers also require a cover for their higher levels of service. In the case of Smashwords to be included in their Premium Catalog requires you meet certain standards.

Why is inclusion in the Premium Catalog important? To quote Smashwords: "The Premium Catalog includes Smashwords titles that meet certain mechanical requirements for distribution into major online retailers such as Smashwords partners, Barnes & Noble or Apple. Smashwords books that achieve Premium Catalog status receive the greatest possible distribution across Smashwords' growing distribution network. If you're a serious writer and you want to reach the greatest number of readers, you want inclusion in the Premium Catalog. It's free."

In summary, eBook publishing is easy (although it usually takes me 3 to 6 hours to redesign a manuscript to meet Smashwords Guidelines) and virtually instantaneous--in a matter of hours you can see your book or short story in an ePublisher's catalog.