4. WINE TO WATER : How One Man Saved Himself While Trying to Save the World by Doc Hendley

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Book Review: In the Woods by Tana French

Apr 10, 2014 | #reviews

I love writing mysteries and I love reading them, too. The ones that send me to new places around the world are some of my favorites and The Dublin Murder Squad has quickly become a fascination. IN THE WOODS is the first in the series.

French, who is from Dublin and has a background in theater, writes as if she is narrating a play as the character of her main protagonist. In this case it is Adam Ryan, who now goes by Rob and is a detective on the fictional but fabled Dublin police Murder Squad. The reason for the name change is complicated: when Adam was a youngster, he and his two best friends went into the woods near their village outside Dublin. Two of the kids never were seen again, while Adam/Rob was found in shock, covered in blood, shirt torn, no memory of the trauma he'd survived. The case became a national outcry and investigation. To hide it, his family moved, he went to boarding school and college and changed his first name.

But the past catches up in an odd way; a girl is killed in the woods, in the same historic village. Ryan and his partner Cassie investigate without letting on that this is Ryan's Waterloo.

The entire book is narrated by Ryan; his nightmares of the past, his piecing together of evidence, his relationship with Cassie, his drinking to dull his pain. The voice is deep inside his head, it's relentless and addictive. The case is similar: relentless yet intangible; too many stray threads, people who are afraid yet manipulative. And then there are those who have been manipulated and they aren't pretty. The story bogged a bit close to the end, but only for a few pages of complications. Otherwise it was engrossing and well paced. The slang is very Irish, good thing I already knew what a git was.

The undercurrent running throughout the book is what happened to Ryan and his friends when they were children. Why were the two other children never found? So there are really two crimes here, one in the past and one in the present. No spoilers, here, however, just a strong recommendation to read IN THE WOODS if you like your mysteries tall, dark, and Irish.

← Writing for Water: March Update and Our Global Impact Friday Fiesta: Focus, Book Discoverability, and a Discount →

Writing for Water: March Update and Our Global Impact

Apr 8, 2014 | #giving

Can a couple of indie authors make a global impact?

Yes, and we are doing it. In March 4 authors were part of the Writing for Water team: Jerry Last, Norm Hamilton and Sharon Lee Johnson joined me in pledging a portion of our book sales to Water.org, the charity co-founded by Matt Damon to bring clean and safe water and decent sanitation to communities worldwide. The composition of the team changes monthly. If you are an author and want to pledge a month, please let me know: carmen@carmenamato.net.

This month’s progress

In 2014 the goal is to provide 25 people with clean and safe water for life. In March we added 5 for a total of 10 so far this year.

This means dozens of micro-loans through Water.org’s Water Credit program, rolling containers to transport large amounts of water, and toilet facilities instead of open sewers. Here is the sort of change this means:

Global Impact

Our books and our readers are having a global impact! Still small, but as the March stats show, it is growing and I truly feel that our goal of 25 people is going to happen.

Writing for Water chart

Thanks to our readers

A big salute goes out to our readers, especially to those who bought Jerry Last’s THE DEADLY DOG SHOW, the best selling title for the team in March. Those who love dog shows and/or German Shorthaired Pointers, will find its behind-the-scenes peek into dog shows and dog training fascinating. Of course, it is a detective mystery so be prepared! Jerry will be part of the Writing for Water Team in April as well. Here’s the link to all the books for the March authors.

We need your help

If you are an author and would like to help, please consider joining the Writing for Water team. In exchange for your TAX FREE donation of at least $25, we’ll leverage our social media platforms (3k on Twitter, 2k on Facebook and that’s just me) to promote the heck out of your books for the entire pledge month. When was the last time you got a month’s worth of advertising for $25?? Check out more information here.

In other news

My next newsletter will have the complete first chapter of DIABLO NIGHTS, the next Emilia Cruz mystery. If you have not yet subscribed, you can do so here, and be the first to read a chapter with a VERY twisted end. I guarantee you will not see it coming.

Subscribers also get THE BEAST, the first Emilia Cruz story, plus THE 3 Minute Guide to Great Book Reviews, and my Top 10 Most Riveting International Mystery Series.

Happy reading! All the best, Carmen

Friday Fiesta: Of Water, Web Design, and Writing

Apr 4, 2014 | #noticed

The Friday Fiesta is stuff worth celebrating from the past week. This week it’s water and web design. Plus a bonus courtesy of omnimystery.com.

Water

In March, the Writing for Water Team was comprised of Jerry Last, Norm Hamilton, and Sharon Lee Johnson, plus, yours truly. What a great team! Norm really got the word out on Twitter, Sharon cornered Facebook, and Jerry found a new audience with dog lovers who have really embraced his latest mystery THE DEADLY DOG SHOW as well as his commitment to Water.org. Jerry is rocking on into April, as is Sharon, and he’s setting some pretty high goals.

If you haven’t already, check out Norm Hamilton’s novel of a dystopian Canada created by fracking, Sharon’s addictive zombie tales, and THE DEADLY DOG SHOW—murder goes to the dogs!

I’ll be doing the full Writing for Water Monthly Report next week but it’s looking like March brought another 5 people clean water for life.

If you are an author, please consider joining us with either a fixed pledge or a portion of sales. There is more information on joining the Writing for Water team here.

Oh, and here’s a great video from Water.org. When you see stories like this, you know your money is well spent.

Emilia dives in, too

I’m submitting a story to be included in OF WORDS AND WATER, an annual anthology of short stories, flash fiction and poetry. The purpose of the anthology is to raise awareness of the work done by the international charity WaterAid. It won’t be out until the end of 2014, but I’m excited to be part of the effort.

The story for the anthology is an Emilia Cruz story, but it is unlike anything I’ve done before. Subscribers to my monthly updates will get a free copy of it before the anthology goes to press. Working title: BROKEN MAIN.

Web Design

I spent three precious writing days reworking and updating this website. Over the 2.5 years I’ve had the site, it has experienced about 3 major upgrades. This week, I’ve come to some conclusions:

Catchthemes.com has hands down the best and fastest customer service forum, plus tons of easy to follow instructions for their themes. No, I am not an affiliate, just a happy customer. I only wish they had more themes to choose from.
Sliders take too long to load. I loved the look, but am just going with a large image on the home page for now. Until the next redesign.
The site is like my living room. I’m inviting you in and want you to enjoy the time you spend here. Sure, I hope you sign up for my mailing list and get a free copy of THE BEAST, but I’m not going to put up acid green or sparkly orange forms. Mystery lovers pick apart clues all the time; they can find a tasteful form.

The Next Great Thing

Together with fellow authors John Scherber, Christopher Irvin, Guillermo Paxton, and Jane Rosenthal, I am part of The Mexico Mystery Writers Cartel. We are all authors who write mysteries set in Mexico. From crime fiction to romantic suspense, we cover the genre and make Mexico the ultimate mystery destination.

Our new blog will have posts from all authors and should be live next month. Get ready for mystery with a touch of salsa fresca!

Writing the Ultimate Mystery Setting

I was hosted on Omnimystery.com last week and wrote about how authors can set a mood by describing a mystery setting in a mere 3 sentences. The post used examples to take the reader to Havana, Venice, Riga, Cairo, and of course, Mexico City. Read the post here.

Free Story

If you haven't gotten a copy yet, THE BEAST, the first story in the MADE IN ACAPULCO collection is available as a free download. If you haven't met Acapulco detective Emilia Cruz yet, you should. As Jane Rosenthal claims, "Emilia says all the things you wish you could--she calls BS on everything."

That’s it for this week! Have a great weekend, hopefully with a margarita and a mystery.

All the best, Carmen

← Friday Fiesta: Blog Hop, Striking Gold, and Recommended Stories Friday Fiesta: Focus, Book Discoverability, and a Discount →

From Panama to Mexico and back again

Apr 1, 2014 | #authorlife, #thrillers

Every thriller needs the big climax, right? But suspense needs to be built with action scenes that intrigue us.

The mystery setting

Remember how in THE KEY TO REBECCA, there's the big climax in the desert as the spy, Wolff, tries to get the radio he's left with the Bedouins so he can transmit the stolen plans for D-Day? Author Ken Follett had already shown us the desert--we already knew its dangers and difficulties--in his careful build-up to the finale.

In the same manner, political thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY takes us to the ocean at night. On the edge of a city called Panama, there's a marina full of boats promising an instant getaway. Rain falls from an ashen sky and water swirls around the dock. It's a build-up to the cartel jefe and the storm and the yacht and . . .

Er, well, sorry.

No spoiler today, just an explanation how a yacht came to feature in a thriller largely set in land-locked Mexico City.

Not the best picture I've ever taken but that's me looking out over the marina by the Amador Causeway

Stormy skies over Panama

Panama is a skinny country bisected by the famous Canal and flanked by two oceans. Panama City is on the Pacific side of the country, with a marina where the rich and famous park their yachts. When I saw the marina for the first time, I knew it could be the ultimate mystery setting for some very nefarious business.

A black yacht, radar domes atop ocean-going vessels, locked piers--they were all found under a stormy sky at the end of a long strip of tarmac jutting into the ocean like an accusing finger.

Inspiration and illustration

Here are the pictures I took of Panama City's marina, and the scene in THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY they inspired:

You can see Panama City's skyscrapers in the distance

The ocean rippled gray under the night sky. In the far distance they saw the lights of ships lined up to pass through the Panama Canal. The soft rain made Eddo feel soggy but no cooler.

Panama City’s Amador Causeway ended in a parking lot that led to a pedestrian plaza lit by streetlamps and surrounded by water on three sides. A cluster of popular restaurants served people from the cruise ships docked nearby. Further from the parking lot, with the water lapping up to the railings, was a Duty Free store and a restaurant called Alfredo’s Café. Across the wide open space was a private marina full of glittering white yachts with signs to keep out those who didn’t belong. The marina was full.

Alfredo's Cafe occupies the left side of this building. The colored windows are a duty-free store for cruise ship passengers.

People could be seen through the windows of Alfredo’s Café. The sound of muted speech and laughter drifted along on the moist air from the covered outdoor seating areas of the restaurants beyond the parking lot. Eddo and Tomás strolled along the water’s edge, the only people outside in the soft night rain. Eddo resisted an urge to look at his watch.

“Ana and I decided to . . . uh . . . do the family thing when I get back,” Tomás said. His face was still puffy from yesterday’s punch.

The dock next to the yachts bounces as the water laps at the boats

“About time,” Eddo said, forcing a smile.

A thin man in black, no bigger than a shadow, crossed the plaza from the distant parking lot. He stopped several yards from them, vaguely Asian in the uneven light. “Cortez?” His voice was a gravelly whisper.

“Yes,” Eddo said.

“Follow me.”

The thin man walked past them and they followed him to the marina gate. He unlocked it and gestured for them to step down onto the floating pier. Eddo heard Tomás say “Fuck” as the pier heaved under their weight.

They continued walking down the pier, the boats on either side moving gently in the swell caused by their passing. At the end of the pier the thin man indicated a boat. He said something to someone on board and a light flashed on.

This yacht's black hull made it the most striking boat in Panama City's marina. I wondered who the owner might be . . .

The boat was one of the smallest in the marina. Eddo grabbed the ladder at the stern and clambered up. Another man dressed all in black met him at the top and pulled him into a dark cabin. Tomás got similar treatment.

From inside the cabin, the boat’s running lights glinted through the windows, making small, angular patterns on the walls. Engines revved and the boat began sliding out of the slip, throwing Eddo and Tomás against the built-in benches that lined the cabin. No one spoke as they were righted and roughly patted down. The lights of the Amador Causeway receded as the boat picked up speed, churning the gray ocean into dirty foam. They passed a few yachts anchored beyond the marina and kept going, apparently headed for open water.

A rare sunny day visit to the marina gave me this view of boats, taken while standing in front of the duty free store next to Alfredo's

Eddo’s cell phone was pulled out of his pocket and handed to a guard who left the cabin. Through the window they watched him dump it over the side. Tomás swallowed a protest as his phone went overboard, too. The man in black found the CD.

“Señor Cortez can keep his CD.”

mystery setting

If you have read the book, please remember to leave a review on Amazon. It's the best way to let other readers know the quality of a book and help an author at the same time.

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Book Review: The Bat by Jo Nesbo

Mar 29, 2014 | #reviews

I have read all of the Harry Hole police procedural mysteries by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo, but read them out of order. Which probably was a good thing . . .

THE BAT is the first in the series, but was only recently made available in English and for Kindle. I was thrilled to read it, as the subsequent books in the series refer to Harry’s investigation of a serial killer in Australia. But as I gobbled it up, literarily speaking, one thought kept surfacing: this is a strange way to start a detective series.

The book introduces Harry Hole as an Oslo detective sent to Sydney, Australia to assist in the investigation of the murder of a Norwegian woman who was a moderately successful Norwegian TV star. His guide throughout the investigation is an Australian detective named Kensington who is of Aboriginal descent. Kensington’s boss isn’t thrilled to have Harry there and wants to shut him out even as Kensington keeps introducing Harry to strange folks in the outback as well as in bars in Sydney’s red light district called King’s Cross.

Now, I’ve been to both Oslo and Sydney (including a night of clubbing in King’s Cross) and the two cities have a lot in common. They are both vibrant and modern with an athletic vibe and a well-educated populace. Lots of tall white people in rock band tees. Just like Harry.

But Nesbo makes the differences really speak to the reader by using the murder investigation to reveal the lifestyle, history, and integration difficulties of Australia’s Aboriginal population. We discover pain and passion through Harry’s eyes in a way that neither the Norwegian detective nor the reader expect to do so.

The serial killer does bad stuff, the ending is full of suspense, a romance goes awry, and the roots of Harry’s self-destructive behavior—more of a central issues in later books—are revealed. But overall, I can’t shake the feeling that this was an odd way to start a mystery series, because at no time do we see Harry as particularly Norwegian or in his natural element. We don't meet his colleagues or understand the context for any continuing series. I recognized places in Australia, and loved the great descriptions, easy dialogue, and twisty plotting. But I’m not sure I’d be compelled to read more in a series set in Norway if I only had this story to go on.

Bottom line? Read THE BAT by Jo Nesbo, but not as your introduction to the Harry Hole series.

← Celebrate Water Day 2014 with 5 Great Reads From Panama to Mexico and back again →

Celebrate Water Day 2014 with 5 Great Reads

Mar 21, 2014 | #giving

It’s the holiday you and I have probably never experienced. Tomorrow is Water Day.

Celebrating a Life Event

Brought to us by Water.org, Water Day celebrates the day someone gets access to safe water. It’s the day the well or water pump starts working close enough to home that no one risks life and limb to get to it. Getting access to safe water is an event people never forget. Water.org honors those life-changing events by celebrating Water Day 2014.

Writing for Water

In 2014, I’m donating a dollar from every Kindle book sold to water.org, because in this day and age, no one should have to live without access to clean water and decent sanitation. This month, authors Sharon Lee Johnson, Norm Hamilton, and Jerold last have joined the Writing for Water team with pledges to water.org. With their help, and other authors throughout the year, I hope to be able to provide 25 people with clean water for life this year.

If you’d like to celebrate Water Day and help us out at the same time, please buy one of the books listed here. You’ll be helping an author, plus helping support Water.org at the same time.

As an added incentive, many of our books are discounted this month. HAT DANCE, the second Emilia Cruz mystery is on sale this weekend. It’s a dance with the devil and Acapulco Detective Emilia Cruz can’t afford the music . . .

Reading about Water

Water is something most of us take for granted. Turn on the faucet, there it is. Go to the store and find shelves of bottles of designer water. But some folks are doing serious thinking about water and the future. Here are 5 books to put on your reading list:

1. SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson

Originally published as a 3 part series in the New Yorker in 1962, the book was the first call to action for the environmental movement. A classic.

2. FROM THINE OWN WELL by Norm Hamilton

In this novel of a futuristic Canada, the country’s water supply has been destroyed by fracking–and greed. Scarily plausible.

3. MEET THE FRACKERS: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Energy Revolution by Gregory Zuckerman

An award-winning Wall Street Journal reporter tells the story of the tycoons who have made a fortune through fracking–hydraulic drilling through extremely dense shale made controversial because of the link to contaminated water.

4. WINE TO WATER: How One Man Saved Himself While Trying to Save the World by Doc Hendley

The true story of how Hendley, a twentysomething bartender, found himself in Darfur, Sudan, countering the tribal warfare that used contaminated water as a weapon of mass destruction by drilling wells.

5. THE BIG THIRST: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water by Charles Fishman

Fishman explains that we have more than enough water to avoid a water crisis but we have to change our approach to how we use–or save–our water. Inconvenient truths, but solutions, too.

Thanks for reading and taking a minute to think about the importance of access to safe and clean water. Happy Water Day.

All the best, Carmen

P.S. Come along on this writing journey with me and get a free short story. THE BEAST, the first Emilia Cruz story is free when you sign up for monthly updates including exclusive excerpts, book release news, and progress toward giving 25 people access to clean water for life. Your email will never be shared.

Padre Pro, the Catholic Martyr Who Inspired a Mystery

Mar 18, 2014 | #EmiliaCruz

The long road that has become DIABLO NIGHTS, the 3th Emilia Cruz mystery novel, started nearly 4 years ago, in Rome, Italy. I'd had my tour of the Vatican and was now on the hunt for gifts and souvenirs. A large Catholic gift and bookstore looked promising.

Historic Surprise

On the second floor I found a small paperback entitled MEXICAN MARTYRDOM by Wilfred Parsons, S.J. The author name's name was buried in the text on the back cover which told of "true stories of the persecutions" and the "atrocities of those times" and the "heroic resistance of Mexican Catholics" in the 1920's.

I was astounded. I'd lived in Mexico for 3 years, gone to church on a regular basis, even been president of the parish council. It was certainly a more devout country than the US, with no hint of anti-Catholicism. Perhaps I should have been aware about this period in history during a tour of Oaxaca, when the guide had referred to government seizure of the former convent were were touring, but I was too agog with the loveliness of Oaxaca to give it further thought. But in the late 1920's the Mexican government of President Plutarco Calles tried to outlaw the Catholic Church, provoking what became known as the Cristero War.

Padre Pro

A rare photo of Padre Pro in a cassock in Mexico (vestments were against the law) from catholicglasses.com

From MEXICAN MARTYRDOM I learned the the story of Miguel Pro Juarez, S.J., a Jesuit priest executed for practicing his faith in 1927. Padre Pro, as he was called, was born in Mexico, ordained in Belgium, and returned to Mexico at the height of the crackdown on the Church. Wearing disguises, he walked, bicycled, and took taxis to dispense the sacraments and assist the poor--often by finding homes for unwanted babies and distributing food to those displaced by the government's crackdown and mishandling of the economy. His legend grew large as the priest the army couldn't catch but he was finally snared when he was accused of an plot to kill the head of the army (later president) and ratted out, along with 2 of his brothers. No one ever produced any evidence that the Pro brothers were involved in the plot.

Padre Pro and his brother Humberto were executed by firing squad. To make an example of him, the government took plenty of pictures during the event. But it backfired. Padre Pro blessed the head of the firing squad, forgave him, then flung out his arms, holding a cross in one hand and a rosary in the other, and shouted Viva Cristo Rey, just before the bullets struck. His words became the rallying cry for the Cristero War, which was captured in the movie "For Greater Glory." Padre Pro was beatified by the Vatican in 1988 (first step on the road to sainthood).

Although the Emilia Cruz series is set in today's Acapulco, I wanted to draw on Padre Pro's life story for a novel. When things can get rough for Acapulco detective Emilia Cruz in both CLIFF DIVER and HAT DANCE she turns to her parish priest Padre Ricardo for advice and solace. In DIABLO NIGHTS, she'll find a relic supposedly from Padre Pro that gives her hope and the courage to keep moving forward. She needs her faith to survive Mexico's drug war violence, but she also needs the relic as a means to ease her conscience, because . . .

No spoilers today, but DIABLO NIGHTS is shaping up to be the most psychologically suspenseful Emilia Cruz mystery yet.

In Padre Pro's Own Words

Padre Pro was a man of many talents. He played the guitar, sang, wrote stories and poetry, and was a great comedic actor (which enabled him to assume many disguises and improvise his way out of numerous close shaves with the Mexican authorities before he was finally caught.) A poem included in the biography BLESSED MIGUEL PRO by Ann Ball has a haunting stanza that I received permission to use as the opening quote in DIABLO NIGHTS:

The very breath of Hell floats in the air;

The cup of crime is filled by tyrant's hand

"Return in Haste, O Lord" by Miguel Pro Juarez, S.J.

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Friday Fiesta: Blog Hop, Striking Gold, and Recommended Stories

Mar 14, 2014 | #noticed

I’m reviving my Friday Fiesta posts, in which I share the most interesting things that crossed my writing desk over the last week. This week it’s a blog hop invitation from author Jerry Last, striking gold with a great new marketing resource, and two new author friends with stories about Mexico.

Blog Hop

What am I working on?

The next full length Emilia Cruz novel, DIABLO NIGHTS, is slated for a late June 2014 release. This one draws inspiration from Mexico’s Cristero War of the late 1920’s during which the government tried to squeeze out the Catholic Church. It’s a mystery-within-a-mystery and Emilia has an unexpected link to the conflict.

I’m also collaborating with several other writers, including Jane Rosenthal, author of PALACE OF THE BLUE BUTTERFLY, and Christopher Irvin, author of FEDERALES, on a multi-author blog. We’re thinking of calling it the Mexico Mystery Writer Cartel. What do you think?

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

As far as I know, there is no one writing a series set in Mexico with a Mexican protagonist in the same international mystery and police procedural genre as Jo Nesbo, Ian Rankin, or Henning Mankell. Readers of those authors describe the Emilia Cruz series as a fresh take on the mystery protagonist. The mood of the Emilia Cruz books is the same but the setting and cultural elements are very different.

Why do I write what I do?

We lived in Mexico at a time when the drug wars were really beginning to heat up. One Christmas a junkie stumbled into midnight Mass. Father Richard was leading us in the Prayer of the Faithful when a man staggered up the center aisle, his limbs jerking as he alternately murmured and shouted incomprehensible words. We all shrank back as he made his way towards the altar, an unexpected and volatile presence.

As the congregation looked on in growing panic, the man accosted Father Richard. The priest didn’t move or stop the prayer, just dug through his robes for a pocket. He pulled out a few pesos and pressed them into the man’s hand.

By that time several of the male congregants had come onto the altar as well and they gently propelled the drug-addled man back down the altar steps and through the church to the rear door.

Christmas mass continued and the addict remained nameless to the shaken congregation. But he stayed with all of us, evidence that Mexico’s own drug problem was growing as more and more drugs transited the country en route to the insatiable United States.

He reminded me of the drug war raging just outside our happy expatriate bubble. We were an American family in Mexico City, embracing a new culture, exploring a vibrant city, and meeting people who were to impact our lives for years to come. But we always knew that the bubble was fragile and as if to prove it, Mexico’s news grew worse in the new year: shootouts in major cities, multiple drug seizures, rising numbers of dead and missing, the murders of mayors, governors and journalists.

I’m continually surprised and saddened by how little people know about what is happening in Mexico. Only big arrests become mainstream news. Especially as the numbers of people missing in Mexico continue to climb, I’m hoping a mystery series can raise awareness of what’s going on in Mexico, with plot elements straight out of the headlines, an authentic dive into one of the most beautiful settings on earth, and a little salsa fresca from my own years living in Mexico and Central America.

How does my writing process work?

book outline I’m rigorous about having an outline before writing, and my technique depends heavily on sticky notes. Often, because each novel has several storylines, I’ll use different colors to keep them straight and the action sprinkled evenly. I’ll arrange the stickies on a big posterboard that gets taped over my desk. About a third of the way through the outline will be overtaken by events and redone. Once the draft is finished, I edit and edit, both to add layers of detail and to polish the prose. In the picture, the weeks refer to the story timeline, not my writing schedule.

More Hopping

Be sure to check out Jerry Last’s hop. He’s the author of the Roger and Suzanne Mysteries, which also have an international flavor!

Striking Author Marketing Gold

I was very pleased to be a beta tester for Tim Grahl’s new Instant Bestseller online course. Tim is a marketing consultant and the author of YOUR FIRST 1000 COPIES, a fantastic resource. The video-based course lays out a comprehensive strategy for successfully getting your books to the right audience and Tim gives the hard facts and figures to back up his approach. The Instant Bestseller name is a bit of a misnomer, however, as the course is all about building a system for sustained success. To find out more check out his company website.

Two Stories to Check Out

My reading list this weekend comes from the clever minds of Susannah Rigg and Chris Irvin. Susannah, who runs the Mexico Retold website, hosted me a few weeks ago and in an exchange of notes told me about her short story. Well, it’s out now and if her engaging blog style is an indication, it should be a very enjoyable read: http://www.amazon.com/Life-Green-White-Susannah-Rigg-ebook/dp/B00IWH4MAW/

Chris is the author of FEDERALES, which also has a Mexican cop protagonist. But the Mexican federal cops have about the worst reputation imaginable so I’m interested to see what he does with it: http://www.amazon.com/Federales-One-Eye-Press-Singles-ebook/dp/B00IRQQZVM/

A reminder about Writing for Water

Norm Hamilton, Sharon Lee Johnson and Jerry Last are all part of the Writing for Water team this month, helping me by donating a portion of their book sales to Water.org. Please consider getting one of their featured books from this list to read this weekend. You will make clean water possible for someone for life.

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Mexico, Two Dogs, and An Unexpected Gift

Mar 11, 2014 | #truestory

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