Updates...

Greetings,

As we get closer to the holiday season, postings here may become a bit more scarce than usual. We're in the midst of buying a house, getting ready for Christmas, and trying to finish more projects than usual. Being busy, I've found, is sometimes a mixed blessing.

Still, I thought some quick updates might be in order, so here we go...

1) I'm ashamed to admit that I just now added a link to Women Writing the West. Considering that this fine organization had me come speak to them a few years ago in New Mexico, one would think that I'd have remembered to add them to my Other Ranges section... alas, it took a reminder from their secretary, Gayle Gresham. The link is there now and Gayle has my thanks, while the organization itself has my sincere apologies for the oversight. There are some very fine and talented women writing about the West and they deserve far more recognition than they receive.

2) Currently reading SHALOM ON THE RANGE by Michael S. Katz. Look for a review to appear here soon.

3) The invitations for my next Kensington/Pinnacle anthology project, THE LAW OF THE GUN, have been sent out. I'm very excited about putting this one together and so far, the line up looks fantastic. If you didn't receive an invitation for this one, please don't be downhearted - I try to vary the lineup as much as I can with every anthology, and hopefully, the future will hold more.

4) CALL FOR BOOKS. As some of you may know, I have a coffee habit that just won't quit.

In the little town where I live, Fernley, NV, there's a small coffee shop owned by a young couple. They are good kids, just getting their dream off the ground. They would like to have a very small little niche of their store (one bookshelf size) dedicated to autographed hardcover books in a variety of genres - SF, fantasy, mystery, thrillers, romance, westerns, young adult, media tie-in, game related, etc. They don't expect to cover all of these areas, but they do want to keep things focused on genre fiction. At most, they'd only want one or two copies of any one title, so they aren't big enough to need to get involved with a distributor and it would only add to their costs.

They know I'm an author and they asked how they might proceed with this idea. I suggested that they (through me, to protect people's privacy) offer to pay 40% off the cover price, plus shipping. They liked that idea, so... here I am. If you've got a hard cover title and are willing to autograph it and sell it to them at 40% off, plus shipping, please drop me a line off list. If you just want to donate a book or two, I'm sure that wouldn't hurt their feelings much either. I'll put together a list of authors/titles for them to look at and help with getting them started. All your contact information will be kept confidential (only I will have it), and who knows... but you might be reaching a whole new (albeit small) fan base. There is no bookstore here, so I don't think anyone participating will significantly impact their sales.

If you're asking yourself, "Self? What's Russell getting out of this?" the answer is... not much. I get my ridiculous coffee-habit supported in part by being the liaison for this project.

In any event, if you'd like to participate, drop me a line. One time participation does not mean, btw, that you are "hooked in for life", but only for the title(s) you specifically indicate that you are willing to send along.

Guess that's about all the news for now. I'm back to the mill and in the meantime, I hope all of you are having a marvelous holiday season.

Regards,
Russell Davis