Chasing Filthy Lucre still on sale

I decided last night that I'd extend the half price CHASING FILTHY LUCRE sale through the end of the month.

So, if you wanted to get a copy for half off, go to Smashwords and enter coupon code VW64G at checkout.

And keep an eye on this space the rest of this month. There'll be more sales you'll want to take advantage of.

Have a great weekend.

It's my birthday. Here's my gift to you.

Today is my birthday. I'm 39. Just one more year and I'm 40. I'm not afraid of it, but it does have me thinking that I need to set a few goals to accomplish over the next year. I have a few in mind already.

I'll save all of that for another time. Today, I wanted to give you a gift. For today only — at least for now* — I'm offering CHASING FILTHY LUCRE for half off at Smashwords. Just enter coupon code JK44E when you checkout.

Just $1.49 for a book that's been called "entirely thrilling" and writing that's been compared to Richard Stark and William Gibson. That's a steal folks.

Your gift to me can be spreading the word about this. Since I'm turning 39 I'd love to sell 39 copies, but I'll be happy with a handful. So retweet this, pin this, do whatever it is you do to spread the word. I'd appreciate it.

* I say for now because I'm toying with the idea of making this a weekend long sale since my birthday falls on a Thursday this year. But don't count on that happening. If you are thinking about getting a copy, don't wait. Do it today.

Finally, a useful online survey

The folks at lifehacker have just posted the results of the very best online survey ever, one that's finally useful.

Lifehacker: Five Best Budget Pens

I love pens and notebooks. I have a ton of each, almost literally. I'm drawn to a hardbound notebook with an interesting cover and a pen that writes smooth.

I prefer rollerball or gel ink, and I think that's because their ink is darker and I can use it to put a thick line on my doodles. They also write smoother and when you are taking notes or jotting down ideas you can writer faster. At least it feels like i can. Like when you're a kid and wearing a pair of new shoes and you think they make you run faster. What a depressing day when you realize it's not the shoes that are slowing you down. It's your genes.

I do have one ball point pen that I like, and it makes this list. It's a Zebra. That's a picture of it up there. I discovered them when I was working at an office supply store in college. They write easy and have a fine point that makes detailed doodling super easy.

Anyway, pens. I like them, and I like this list. Read it.

A new cover for CHASING FILTHY LUCRE

I uploaded a new cover for Chasing Filthy Lucre tonight. You can already see it at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. Hopefully it will be up at Amazon soon.

I liked the old cover. A good friend made it for me, and it worked really well as a thumbnail, although my name was a little tough to read. Even though I liked the cover, it was time for a change. Sales of Chasing Filthy Lucre had trickled to a near stop. I'll sell a copy or two every month, but never more than that.

I know people are seeing the book. I track the traffic from these posts and from tweets. I know that people are clicking on the links to the book pages at all the sales sites. But they aren't buying the book. I don't know if it's the cover or the blurb that's not capturing their attention. Since I don't know which one is the problem, I'm going to change the cover first and see if we have any uptick in sales. Then, the blurb is being changed next.

I'll post the new blurb here and ask for feedback. Please be honest. That probably won't happen for a couple of days.

Here's the new cover. Hit me with any feedback you might have. I'm really happy with it, not that I want that to color your opinions.

Music and writing: Smack you in the face

When I was writing the first draft of Chasing Filthy Lucre, I did it while listening to a lot of trip hop music. It had the feel I needed to keep me moving forward, and I had this thought. What if I could create an original soundtrack that went along with the book? I even went as far as creating a track listing.

I asked my brother, who is a musician, if he'd like to try his hand at creating these songs. He was too busy to do it, and the project never got anywhere. But I'm still listening to trip hop while I write the follow-up books to Chasing Filthy Lucre.

I was going to write a paragraph or two here about the power of music, but it seems like something that doesn't need to be said. I think we've all experienced hearing a song and being taken back to some memory. So, yeah, music is powerful. It can invoke memories. But it can also invoke a feeling.

Someday I'd love to write something that feels like these songs. Kind of heavy, rough around the edges, bluesy, smack you in the face.

In my head I see shady characters with greasy hair and sideburns that come down their jaw line. Their clothes are a little too tight and a little dated. Their breath smells like coffee and cigarettes. They are always in the middle of some kind of scheme. They have experience with mugshots and know what it feels like to be handcuffed in the back seat of a squad car.

The White Stripes CANNON


The Black Keys HOWLIN' FOR YOU


The White Stripes BALL AND A BISCUIT


The Black Keys LONELY BOY

Price increases coming in September

Just a quick post to let everyone know that there are a few changes coming to the books I've published. Well, it's one chance, and it's to only two of the books. It's a price increase.

I've debated this for a while, and I've decided to pull the trigger and do it. What that means is that come the start of September the price for Chasing Filthy Lucre (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords) is going to go up to $2.99. And the price for Scouts (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords), my newest, will be going up to $1.99. That's a $1 increase for both titles. The price of Reunion  (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords) will remain unchanged,

I'm making this change for a couple reasons. One is to keep up with the market as it seems to be shifting. I have absolutely no statistical evidence to back up that claim, but I've noticed that novellas the length of Chasing Filthy Lucre are routinely being priced at $2.99 and often higher. Same thing with Scouts.

The second reason I'm doing this is to bring these books in line with a general ricing philosophy I'm adopting. Anything under 10,000 words is $0.99. Anything between 10,000 and 20,000 words is $1.99. Anything above 20,000 words starts at $2.99. Probably more info than you cared to know, but there it is.

Like I said, September prices go up. What's that mean for you? It means that if you've ever wanted to get a copy of one of those two books, you have a few days to save a couple bucks. In September they'll each cost you a buck more.

You can now get Scouts for your Nook

Took a few days, but Scouts is now available for Nook. Go and get your copy here. Lets sell dozens today and see if we can't get this thing to become a Nook bestseller.

Star Wars characters sing Call Me Maybe

This may be the perfect use of the Internet.

Scouts is available

I promised you that the second Jackson Cane story, Scouts, would be available today, and it is. You can get it at Smashwords and Amazon for now. It's still working its way through the process at Barnes and Noble, but it should be available there by the end of the day.

If you're one of the people who's grabbed a free copy of Reunion in the last few days, or you're one of the few people who've paid for a copy of Reunion in the months that it's been available, you're going to want to get a copy of Scouts. This story lets you get a much better look at Jackson Cane, and it sets up a bigger story that's going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited about it. You're going to like it. If you need to know more, here's the description that I'm using for now. This will probably change a bit.

When Jackson Cane spots a trio of twenty-somethings in a restaurant, his instincts tell him something's wrong. When he sees them later, he finds out he couldn't have been more right, and that's bad news for Jackson Cane and the rest of the Freak Police. This 13,000-word story is the second in the series of Jackson Cane adventures. 

So get a copy of Scouts at Smashwords here: Scouts

Or at Amazon here: Scouts

And, if you have a Nook. keep checking back here. I'll update this space when  link is available.

A new story up at A Twist of Noir

A quick note to let you all know that I have a story up at A Twist of Noir. It's called Like Candy, and it features a couple of characters I've been writing a while just not publishing. They are named Dirk Daring and Paisley Trinket, and they're thieves.

Since this was going to be the 693rd story posted at A Twist of Noir, the challenge was to write the story in 693 words. I found Like Candy on my hard drive, and with a little editing I made it fit the word count. It's much tighter now that it used to be, and I think it's better for the editing.

Anyway, go check it out. Leave a comment over there. Let me know what you think.