More incoming reviews for End of the Line

Harriet Klausner in The Mystery Gazette:

“Readers will enjoy the return of Parker and ‘Cousin Stanley’ as they investigate a case that started as bank embezzlement, in which the prime suspect is murdered. Parker is his terrific know it all self starting with the bloodhound hearsay lecture and never lets up with his unique brand of sardonic winking wisdom. Stan is a solid cop who this time has three women in his life, but at the same time none in his life. Ironically Buffy plays a lesser but more pivotal role than in the Murder Most Holy case as she shares second banana billing with a lot of other females. Hopefully this is not the End of the Line for this dynamic trio.”

Read the full review here.

Ahhh, the sometimes boring life of a lawyer!

Sometimes the life of a mystery writer / attorney is not all the excitement one would expect. My first impression of lawyers came from watching Perry Mason with my dad. Watching Perry solve the murder was exciting. But the life of a real life lawyer is often anything but exciting. Much of the work I do now is with the elderly, obtaining guardians and conservators to protect them and their property after they are unable to do so for themselves.

Recently here in Central Iowa a guardianship case made its way into the news which gave a somewhat distorted view of how the legal process works. I was able to write an op-ed piece for the Des Moines Register which put things in perspective. I’ve linked to the article here.

Don’t take this as legal advice, but if you find yourself in a similar situation you might want to take note of the information in the article.

MORE BOOK NEWS

We are within a month of the publication of End of the Line, my second Parker Noble mystery. The scheduled date is June 16 and the book should be at distributors and retailers by the first week in July. Later in July we’ll have a launch party at Beaverdale Books in Des Moines. In the mean time, pre-publication orders are being taken at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books a Million. I’ll post the date and time for the launch party when everything is settled. In the mean time, if you can’t make it to Des Moines for the launch, try ordering it form one of the on-line stores I’ve linked above.

Novel competition reminder from MWA

The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) reminder:

The third Annual Minotaur books/MWA first crime novel competition

The winner will be offered a publishing contract with a $10,000 advance.  Manuscripts must be postmarked by November 30, 2010.  For guidelines and to request an entry form click here.

The Funky Pumpkin

Okay, it’s like this: My wife wanted to trade her Mustang Convertible for something more winter (read that snow and ice) friendly. So she picked out this 2010 Kia Soul – she wanted the “sports” package. I call the car the Funky Pumpkin, she calls it Gus. Anyway, here it is:

Kinda cute (both), don’t you think?

Sisters in Crime DM meetings

In reply to my query about local writers’ groups, I received an e-mail from a writing friend that there is an effort to start a Des Moines Chapter of Sisters in Crime. SIC is a national mystery writers’ organization that promotes women writers, but is also open to men. In fact, a number of well-known male mystery writers are members of SIC.

Anyway, the group meets the third Saturday of each month at Smokey Row Coffee House from 3 to 5 p.m. Smokey Row is located at 1910 Cottage Grove; it is right at the corner of Cottage Grove and Martin Luther King Blvd.

More on writers’ groups: Two Rivers Romance Authors

I listed a few writers’ groups a few days ago, here is a new one: Two Rivers Romance Authors, which is affiliated with Romance Writers of America. It holds meetings the third Saturday of the month from 9:30 to 12:30 at the country Kitchen Restaurant, 5030 NE 14th Street, Des Moines.

Here is what TRRA’s website says “Our programs are varied and cover everything from fiction writing basics and getting published to the business side of your writing career, and everything in-between. Members attend free. Guests are allowed to attend two meetings free before they decide to join our group.”

On September 11-12, 2010, TRRA will be present “The Great Iowa Book Event” featuring 42 Iowa authors autographing their latest releases at Merle Hay Mall, Des Moines. There will be a silent auction and a wonderful raffle basket. One of the prizes in the raffle basket will be a bi-plane ride.