Coverage (& Major Congratulations!)

Yesterday, I found a snow-covered box on my front step. That’s UPS for you, but I at least have my cover flats for WHAT BURNS WITHIN. And I have to say, they’re gorgeous.

The front has raised lettering, which makes it look great. I wish I had a jpeg to show you what the back looks like, but I can give you the text:

“A toally mesmerizing narrative and a plot that burns off the page.”

- KEN BRUEN, AUTHOR OF AMMUNITION

“Never a dull moment. It’s a hard book to put down.”

- TONY HILLERMAN ON SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

One year ago, a brutal case almost destroyed three cops. Since then they’ve lost touch with one another, avoiding painful memories, content to go their own ways. Now Nolan is after a serial rapist. Hart is working on a string of arsons. And Tain has been assigned a series of child abductions, a case all too similar to that one. But when the body of one of the abduction victims is found at the site of one of the arsons, it starts to look like maybe these cases are connected after all…

“What Burns Within is a stunning book.”

- BRIAN LINDENMUTH, MYSTERY BOOKSPOT

“Ruttan is talented in the way that a natural musician is talented, making all the notes seem effortless.”

- CRIMESPREE MAGAZINE

I should note a few things on the blurb front. They used SC blurbs, and the first two blurbs I put in for WBW, because of the timeframe in getting the cover ready. Fortunately for me, Ken had already read WBW and blurbed it, and this reviewer who'd liked SC had been pestering me for new material to read, so I'd let Brian Lindenmuth have a copy before there was a deal on WBW and he blurbed it as soon as I told him about the deal.

I'm sure by now most of you recognize his name around here. I say it not just because he's become a good friend since - you should read his reviews over at Mystery Bookspot (aka Fantasy Bookspot). His latest is of Craig McDonald's HEAD GAMES - my own review of HEAD GAMES will be up later this month in my usual places.

Getting back to the cover flats, there are a few things on the marketing plan that had my eyes popping out of my head, but I’ll be quiet about that for now. It’s probably too late for them to be changed, and they probably won’t have much of an impact on American booksellers.

Canadian booksellers might be left to wonder a bit, though… As long as none are choked. I do know the difference between the VPD and the RCMP, and I do know the difference between Vancouver and the GVA…

And now, it’s officially time to turn my attention to cover ideas for THE FRAILTY OF FLESH, so that thudding sound you hear is not someone knocking at the door or a cat locked in your closet – it’s just me as I’m pulling my hair out.

So I bring you a bit of press coverage. Super-huge thanks to Jack Ruttan for pointing me to this – once there, follow the link and watch.

This is why you should never stick your kids with a common name.

Major Congratulations!

The 2008 Edgar Nominees have been announced - major congratulations to:

Ken Bruen, nominated for PRIEST
Craig McDonald, nominated for HEAD GAMES
Derek Nikitas, nominated for PYRES

And I'm totally stoked to see WHO IS CONRAD HIRST? by Kevin Wignall nominated!

(Consider me confused - somehow, I thought Tana French was Irish. Apparently, she's American. Either that, or somebody messed up.)

But congratulations to all.

And since it’s Friday, how about some politically incorrect funnies? Thanks Brian. (You have to scroll down just a smidge for his bio.)

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