To bring you up-to-date on Scratched, Koehler Books promises me that I will have the galleys to review in July. I am very much looking forward to that and I hope that the galleys are in very good shape which is what I expect. I am dealing with John Koehler there who seems to be very attentive. Also, Jocelyn Kelley with the publicist firm of Kelley and Hall have been giving me hints as to what I should be doing. They are really waiting for the galleys in order to move forward with their program. Hopefully, Scratched will be right up there on their screens.
I’ve already given one talk entitled Thrillers, Chillers and Noir which I hope to repeat a number of times as it is all about the differences as between the genres as well as talking about how each can complement the other. Hopefully, I will hone that talk and have the opportunity to give it again, and again.
It is difficult to tell what the e-book sales have been for Carom Shot and Straight Pool. Hopefully I will find out in the near future. We have sent out notices to probably fifteen hundred to two thousand people, many of whom have read the books but I am hoping they will continue to support me and perhaps send that notice on to other people. It is a little chaotic but I think it will eventually work. I have always thought that the e-books for Carom Shot and Straight Pool would be used as a overture for Scratched. It has just simply been too long since Straight Pool publication in 2008 and, of course, I had no idea that we would have had in the interim the Borders demise, my attack of Guillain Barré, and a host of other delays including changing from third person to first person as required by editor and agent Paula Munier.
I continue on The Reckoning my new mystery noir novel with a different hero, Jake Fournier, the Rhode Island Parole Board, and the Providence mob which, I think in terms of organization, is going to be quite good. Hopefully, I can give it the right turn of phrase. I always think of Elwood Leonard asking the question “Will the reader turn the page?” and his warning that every reader should know “what the bad guys are doing.”