White Out Debuts This Coming Monday

 

The seventh Penns River novel, White Out, debuts Monday (July 11). The preliminary feedback has been as good or better than any novel I’ve written, and I have high hopes. The book is currently only available through Amazon in either paperback or Kindle for marketing reasons I will discuss below for those who are interested.

 

Inspired by such encouragement, I am making an effort to create more of a presence on that Internet thing, which I have finally decided is probably going to stick around. (I am not someone who likes to get too far ahead of any curve. There’s a reason it’s called the “bleeding edge.” The Beloved Spouse™ and I are only now watching Frasier.)

 

I’m working on making my Facebook author page more active, and attractive, by moving all writing-related announcements away from my personal page. The author page is https://www.facebook.com/DanaKingBooks.

 

I have also joined the Dark Side™ and become more active on Twitter, for those who prefer it to Facebook. The handle there is @DanaKingAuthor.

 

I am also starting a newsletter for subscribers only. The web site has threatened such a publication for years, and a goodly number of folks have signed up. Now I’m going to hold up my end. I intend to publish two or three times a year, which I hope will be often enough to stay on people’s radar without becoming spammy. Please sign up here and I’ll get the first edition out around the end of July.

 

While COVID is not fully behind us, The Beloved Spouse™ and I have decided to pick up the pace of getting out and about. We attended Left Coast Crime in April, and have several events on the horizon.

 

·       July 21 Noir at the Bar, Yonder Southern Cocktails and Brew, Hillsborough NC.

·       July 26 Noir at the ‘Voir ,The Boathouse at Sunday Park, Midlothian VA.

·       September 8 – 11 Bouchercon, Minneapolis MN. (Panel assignment: The Place It Took Place: Setting in Mystery, Sunday @ 9:00)

·       September 30 – October 2 Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity Conference, Columbia MD.

 

Thank you to everyone connected with Down & Out Books, especially Lance Wright and Chris Rhatigan. No one works harder than Lance, or is more responsive to authors’ needs, to the point where I sometimes feel guilty asking him for something. (Not that my guilt prevents me asking.) Chris’s editorial suggestions improve every book, whether I accept a specific edit or not, as he consistently makes me think about whether what I chose is the best choice.

 

Additional shoutouts to David Ivester for his marketing assistance; Erin Mitchell for her friendship and much-appreciated counsel; John DeDakis, Brendan DuBois, and J.D. Rhoades for their generous blurbs and kind personal comments; and, of course, to The Beloved Spouse™, who assisted/put up with/improved the book every step of the way.

 

A “special thanks” to white supremacists. Every time the book needed some dastard act or opinion for their characters, five minutes research showed they come up with worse rolling out of bed in the morning. This book would not have been possible without such evolutionary cul-de-sacs.

 

Penns River goes on hiatus after White Out, as I focus on a couple of Nick Forte PI stories that have been nagging me for months. Doc and his cohort will return a couple of books down the road. A three-novel story arc is already taking shape, but it needs research and time to ferment. Till then, I’m a private eye writer again, which is good. I still think the PI story, when done well, is the highest form of crime fiction.

 

(The decision to sell only through Amazon is part of placing all Penns River books on Kindle Unlimited, thus hopefully increasing my review totals, which figure into their marketing algorithms; payment for page views figured into it, as well. I know some of you see Amazon as The Evil Empire™; I have issues with them myself. Check this space next week for a detailed and nuanced discussion of my thoughts on this decision.)