I'm a writer. There, I've admitted it. I wonder if there's a 12-Step program for folks like me...

Most of this blog will be about writing for a living. Or maybe about trying to earn a living as a writer. Or maybe about trying to have a life while you write.

And maybe I'll be able to avoid the driving temptation to write about politics. But I'm not very good around temptation, so all I can promise is that I'll try to avoid writing about politics.

But I will write about the software I use, and the software I try out, and what I think about it. I actually spent lots of years in software testing - as a tester and as a manager of testing departments. I actually started work in software development in 1971, so I have a bit of experience with computers to back up what I have to say on this subject.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

“Twisted Key” is now available

 

My third novel, “Twisted Key”, is now available for purchase. What follows is a brief description:

Terry Rankin has a new client; Fatima al Natsche, a Muslim woman living under a sentence of death for her work on behalf of women suffering under Islamic law. Terry’s a businessman – he’ll protect just about anyone who can pay the freight. In fact, he admires Ms. Al Natsche and the sacrifices she’s made to get her message out.

But then her daughter flies over from Norway and gets snatched off the street in front of her mother’s home, and all of the masks come off and all of the dirty little secrets come out to play in the Florida sun.

“Twisted Key” is a story about a clash of cultures and family values gone wrong. It’s about buried treasure and what happens when the allure of big bucks meets honor and self respect.

You can find it on line now at: www.TwistedKeynovel.com. It should also be available through the Amazon and Barnes and Noble web sites but that will take another month or so.

In the meantime I am hard at work on “Lonesome Cove”, and spending my spare time (like I have any) setting up a shop to build harps.

I have some events scheduled for the Fall and Winter seasons, and will be adding a few book signings at bookstores in the  North Florida area in the near future:

24 September - Florida Heritage Book Festival, #50 Sevilla Street, Flagler College Ringhaver Student Bldg, 2nd Floor, St. Augustine, Fl. 9:00 - 5:00

15 - 16 October - Orange Park Winter Festival, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, corner of Kingsley Rd. and Park Ave.  Orange Park, Fl

22 October - Calvary United Methodist Church Harvest Festival, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm, 112 Blanding Blvd, Orange Park, Fl.

5 November - Middleburg Historic Festival, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, 2102 Palmetto St, Middleburg, Fl

Please drop me a line at: gary@garyshowalter.com and let me know what you think of my story.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Sometimes, Life hands you lemons, and even makes you wear shoes

And sometimes, Life hands you lemon meringue pie. But in this case, it was lemons – maybe. I had hoped to launch my third novel, “Twisted Key”, at the Florida Heritage Book Festival in St. Augustine on the 24 th of September. That might still happen, but the publisher refuses to promise or even hint at the possibility of the books arriving on time, or even a week later.

I truly hate my publisher, and dream of doing dastardly things to all and sundry who work there. But I am a realist, so those dreams will remain just that. But one always has options, don’t one? This one do, for sure.

With that said, I will be at the Festival with “The Big Bend” and “Hog Valley”, and with a great deal of good fortune (Life does owe me a bit of that), “Twisted Key” will be there as well. If not, I do have several other engagements arranged for the fall and early winter, and will be setting up a few book signings to fill out the pre- holiday season.

Now I have to get a haircut and beard trim, and root around in my closet for my shoes. I hate wearing shoes almost as much as I hate my publisher, and that’s saying quite a lot about my feelings toward shoes.

You will be hearing some details later on about this particular publisher, but for right now, ‘nough said on that subject.

Friday, September 2, 2011

“Twisted Key” and “Lonesome Cove” updates

All in all, this was a very good week to be me. I didn’t win the lottery – I understand you have to buy a Lotto ticket first, and I don’t throw money away on stuff like that. But I did get some actual work done in my shop, and I am now officially back to work on “Lonesome Cove”, my fourth novel.

In fact, I have just this morning uploaded a PDF file of the first 3 chapters of “Lonesome Cove” to my web site and created a link to it on the Free Downloads page. By the way, there is also a link to the first three chapters of “Twisted Key” on that same page, if you want to see what all the fuss is about.

“Twisted Key”, along with my other novels, is available in Kindle and Nook formats now. It is due to be released in paperback around the end of September. “Lonesome Cove” is going to take a bit longer, since I haven’t finished writing it yet…

Just click the link below and it will take you to the page. Scroll down to the bottom and you will see the links to the teaser chapters:

http://garyshowalter.com/FreeDownloads.aspx

I just finished editing the manuscript and now have 207 good pages written in “Lonesome Cove”.  It is beginning to shape up into a heck of a story. It has the Italian Mob and Latino gangs in Miami, a gold heist and Sanibel Island, and Terry and Cathy's wedding and just enough blood and guts to keep the story moving at a fast clip. And Spike, of course.

So please feel free to downloads the sample chapters, and pleasepleaseplease drop me a line at gary@garyshowalter.com and let me know what you think about “Twisted Key” and “Lonesome Cove”.

Have a great Labor Day weekend.