It's been too long since I sent news of a new publication, but today's the day. I can't say HEAVEN AND EARTH is completely new, but I can say that since it was published by Harlequin more than 20 years ago, you might not have read it yet.
Here's the story about writing a book and getting it published: unless you want to publish your book yourself--which I don't--you search for a good publisher, negotiate a contract selling them the right to publish the book, pay you an agreed upon rate of royalties based on sales, and keep it in print over a period of time. When the book is out of print for an agreed-upon period of time, the rights will revert to the author who has retained final ownership of the copyright. When you love your work, you celebrate its publication. If you're very lucky, you might get to celebrate it more than once!
Such is the case with, among others, my historical novel, HEAVEN AND EARTH. With a new publisher I've been able to polish up the book in terms of style, detail, depth of character--the kind of writing a good writer improves over the course of 20+ years. I hope readers who enjoy my stories will give it a try in either the e-book version or the trade paperback, which is bigger and longer-lasting than the mass market paperback. (I hate it when my favorite paperbacks turn brown and crispy with age.) I know Amazon and Apple offer a generous chunk of the first chapter, along with "A Note From The Author" (that's me!) that offers some background on this story's setting and a bit about the history of our mixed-blood hero's Metis people.
Ever since he got into trouble with the Canadian Hudson's Bay Company, fur trader Jed West has lived quietly in an isolated cabin in Oregon Country. When a Shoshone hunting party tells him of a wagon train carrying white settlers spreading deadly disease on their land, they also warn him of a dying woman abandoned near the foot of his mountain. Jed finds Katherine--newlywed widow of a Connecticut missionary--takes her in and sees her through the throes of typhoid fever. But it is Katherine's promise to her dead husband that poses the greatest threat to her life and to Jed's hope for turning his own life around.
I hope we're all in for a temperate, colorful autumn filled with storytelling around the backyard firepit, yummy s'mores and pumpkin spice. Or, if you prefer, a favorite chair near the fireplace, a cup of hot chocolate, and a good book.
